Rain
by Sweet Scrifice
Summary: After the death of Hinamori Hitsugaya doesn't know what to do. Can a a certain shinigami change the ice dragon? or will Aizen change the dragon's heart and betray soul society? HitsuxRukia story.
1. Encounters

_Disclaimer –_ Bleach is not mine.

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Encounters

It was a cold day. The sky was gray. No sounds; It was a lonely place. There was no life, just death. What else could you find in a graveyard? There were tombstones everywhere. In front of one of them stood a man. His silver hair moved with the breeze. His icy green eyes were looking straight at the tombstone. You couldn't read his expression. He didn't move; he just stood.

'Why do I keep coming here?' he asked himself. 'Why keep coming here, if the only thing that it brings me is pain? But more importantly, why did you have to go?' It had been two weeks since Vice-Capitan Momo Hinamori died. Since that day he had been coming to this lifeless place.

He looked up at the sky. It looked like it was going to rain. 'Just like the day you left,' he thought. He looked again at the tombstone of his beloved friend. He then noticed somebody else's presence. He looked over his shoulder and saw a petite woman. She was carrying some flowers. She looked up and met his gaze.

They looked at each other, neither of them moving. Finally she was the one to stop their staring contest. She approached him. "Good evening, captain Hitsugaya," she said while bowing. "Good evening, Kuchiki-san," he responded. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," Rukia said. "Not at all. May I ask what you are doing here?" said Hitsugaya.

She was silent for a moment. She looked at the tombstone for a moment before replying. "I came to visit a friend," Rukia said. "I didn't know that you were friends with her," Hitsugaya said with an icy tone. "I'm not her friend. I just knew her enough to feel the pain of losing her."

They stood silent again. After a minute she bent down and put the flowers on the grave. She stood again, ready to leave. "If she is not your friend then who did you come to visit?" he asked. She looked at him with an expression he recognized. It was his same expression. It was a hollow look. She responded in a monotone voice, "I came to visit Kain-dono's tomb."

He recognized the name. It was an ex vice-captain. He looked at her. She was staring forward, never looking at him. She just stood there waiting for him to dismiss her. "Sorry for asking. It was none of my business," he said. "You don't have to apologize, captain Hitsugaya. But I'm afraid that if there is nothing else you want to ask me, I will go," she responded with the same monotone voice. She bowed again and started walking to her friend's tomb.

"Wait!" he called. She stopped moving and looked over her shoulder "Yes?" He didn't know why he asked her to wait. He just didn't feel like staying alone. "Do you mind f I go with you?" he asked. She thought for a moment before saying "No. Not at all."

She waited for him. When he reached her, she started walking again. They walked in complete silence. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. They reached their destination after walking a while.

He looked around. It was the same; lifeless. She bent down to say a prayer. He waited for her to finish. "Does it hurt?" she asked. "Excuse me, what did you said?" She looked at he ground "Does it hurt?" He looked at her. She was still on her knees. He thought for a moment. "Why?" "Because for me it does. Every time I think of the times we spent together it hurts me a lot. I know how it feels to lose a special person. It feels like if somebody has stolen a piece of your heart. Like if the sun will never rise again and rain will never stop," the last part was almost a whisper.

He was surprised. Nobody knew how he felt. Nobody understood his feelings. But this girl had just described what he felt since his beloved friend's death. Again he didn't know what he was doing. He pulled her to her feet and gave her a hug.

He didn't know why but he felt happy. He had found somebody that knew the same pain he was feeling. "Yes it does," he told her while still holding her. He looked at the sky.

"Looks like today it won't rain."

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_Author notes –_ I know the end is a little cheesy, but I still think is ok. I would love to hear your comments about this couple. I want to know if this couple is to wear. 


	2. Training

_Disclaimer-_ Bleach is not mine-

_Author's notes-_ thanks to the people that gave me a review

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Training

It was a big room, with a comfy sofa and many shelves filled with books. The boy with silver hair and icy green eyes was sitting on a desk with mountains of papers. You could hardly see him. The only sound you could hear was the scratching of a quill on a piece of paper. Suddenly the door was open. The boy didn't need to lift his head to see who it was; he already knew.

"Good morning captain Hitsugaya!" she said in a happy tone.

"Good morning vice-captain Matsumoto," Hitsugaya said in an annoyed voice.

"It looks like you woke up on the wrong side of bed today, captain," she said while sitting on the sofa. He looked at her with angry eyes. She was late again. "Matsumoto you are late_ again_, why?" She was nervous now. Since Hinamori's death the only emotion he showed was anger. "Mmm…well you see, it's kind of funny…je, je, je…." she said with a nervous smile. "Hurry up! I don't have all day!"

"Yes sir! Yesterday I went to a party with vice-captain Kira and vice-captain Renji sir!" He looked at her, with an annoyed face. It was always the same with her. She was always in parties or on dates. Couldn't she see that he was already stressed enough with Hinamori's death?

"Oh my gosh; this time he really looks mad. I knew that I shouldn't have gone to that stupid party. I'm sure he is going to use bankai on me." There was silence. The atmosphere was cold.

"You are dismissed Matsumoto." This was a dream. She couldn't believe her ears. "Captain, are you feeling well?" He was already in the doorway. He looked at her over his shoulder "Why?" She looked at him with worried eyes. "Well," she said while scratching her arm "It's just that every time I came late you usually threaten me by saying that if a come late again you would use bankai on me."

He thought about what she said. It was true. Every time she was late, he would threaten her with his bankai. But now he didn't feel like saying it. It was pointless. "True," he looked at her before turning around and saying "I will be going now," and started walking.

"Captain, wait!" He stopped. Without even turning to face her he said "Yes?" "Where are you going?" "To train," he said and started walking again. She looked at the spot were he stood. "If you want to talk I'm always here," she said, but it was too late; he was already too far to hear.

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It was cold. The leaves of the trees didn't allow the sun to pass. It was dark in there, but not dark enough to lose your way. The wind was cold against his face, but he was used to this. People didn't call him the ice dragon for nothing. In this cold forest he felt a little more relaxed. This was his favorite place to train or just to think. Nobody knew about this place.

That was why he was surprised to feel somebody else's presence. 'This is weird. I thought nobody knew about this place. Who could it be?' he thought. He walked to where the person was and hid behind a tree. 'I think I know who it is,' he though with a smile and came out of his hiding place.

"Good afternoon, Kuchiki-san," he said. Rukia immediately stopped what she was doing and turned around to face him. She was a little bit surprised. She didn't expect to see him this soon. After all, only four days had passed since the incident in the graveyard.

"Good afternoon captain Hitsugaya," Rukia said while bowing. After she finished bowing she noticed that he was staring at her with curiosity. They were silent for a moment. Rukia thought it was better to break the silence. "Sorry if I'm being rude but what are you doing in a place like this? Shouldn't you be with your squad?" He was silent. Rukia thought that maybe she was being to rude. "Sorry for being so…" He cut her off. "You don't need to apologize. I came here to train. And you?" "I also came here to train."

An idea came to him. "Your zanpakuto ability is ice, right?" he asked in a mysterious way. "Yes," she responded with a nervous voice. She didn't like the way he was smiling; it was scary. "Good," he thought. She had just enough time to grab her sword and put it between her and his sword. "Captain what are you doing?" He just smirked at her and jumped to the other side. "You said you came to train right?" She just moved her head; she knew she wouldn't like what he was planning to do. "Then train with me. Our zanpakutos are the same ability; I want to see which one is more powerful." It was official; he had finally lost what little sanity he kept after Hinamori's death. "What? You are joking! I'm not that strong; you would win for sure!"

"I don't care. I still want to see your zanpakuto's fighting skills. And besides you can't refuse to fight with me," he said with a smile. "Why not?" she asked while putting some distance between them. "Because I'm a captain and I order you to fight me," as soon as he finished saying this word he jumped in the air and shouted "Hyorinmaru!"(1)

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It was night when Hitsugaya decided to stop their training. They were sitting beside each other breathing hard. He turned his head to look at her. She was sitting very unladylike on grass and was sweating a lot. "Liar," he said. She looked at the boy sitting beside her. He was staring at the sky. "Excuse me?" He moved his gaze to look at her eyes. "You said you weren't strong enough and that I will win for sure, but you gave me a good fight."

She could feel the heat forming on her cheeks. "Thanks for your compliment but most of the fight I was running away from you," she told him with her eyes looking down. She was ashamed of herself; she was a Kuchicki and she should have fought with more courage. Rukia felt a pair of fingers under her shin. He moved her face so that she would meet his gaze.

"I still think you fight well. I have fought with many powerful people and you have been on of my most skilled opponents. Don't think so low of yourself," he told her. He didn't know why but, every time he was with her, she would make him act very different from his usual cold self. Like the time on the graveyard. He usually hated people that tried to hug him because they thought he was cute. But that day he was the one to give a hug.

After Hinamori's death he felt empty. He just didn't know what to do without her. People were always trying to cheer him up, but no one could bring a smile to his face. His days were filled with pain. But most of the time he felt angry with himself for not being strong enough to save Hinamori. So he kept coming back to her tomb and asking for forgiveness.

But that day at the graveyard she changed something without knowing. "Captain Hitsugaya, are you ok? You have been staring at me for a while," He then looked at her as if it was the first time he looked at her. He didn't feel the cold he just felt warm. He smiled at her before saying:

"Thank you for making the cold go away." He then stood and walked away leaving a very confused and flushed Rukia behind.

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(1)That is the name of Hitsugaya's zanpakuto

_Author's notes-_ tell me if this chapter is good or if I'm making Hitsugaya to OCC.


	3. Imnsonia

_Disclaimer-_ bleach is not mine.

_Author's notes-_ ideas keep coming, I can't stop writting

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Imnsonia

It was a normal night. Most of Seireitei was asleep. On the tenth division headquarters just one boy was awake. He lay on his futon staring at the ceiling. He hadn't been able to get any sleep in all the night. 'Damn it. I need to sleep; tomorrow there is a captain meeting in the morning,' he thought with a groan. 'I don't want to go.'

'I don't want to see that guy. He is so annoying!' he thought with a frown. Captain Ukitake was one of the reasons why he disliked meetings. Hitsugaya hated to be treated like a kid, and captain Ukitake loved to treat him as one. 'He always gives me candy. Do I look like the type of guy that likes sweets?' he thought.

He didn't hate the man; he actually thought he was very smart, but he was annoying. 'I think she is in his squad,' he thought. He smiled at this. Both of them had been training together for two weeks already. It was already a routine for them. He would finish all his paper work in record time and leave his office without anybody noticing his absence. She would already been waiting for him, and she always waited with a smile.

She was very good. He wondered why she was still an unranked official. He knew that she could become a vice-captain, just like Hinamori. He felt the sadness coming again. He could still feel the pain of losing her. But recently he didn't feel it that much. He still felt sadness when he remembered the times they spent together. But knowing that there was another person that felt the same way as him made everything easier.

In the few days they that they have been together, he discovered Rukia was different from Hinamori. Hinamori was fragile. He always felt the need to protect her. But Rukia didn't need to be protected. She wasn't fragile; she was strong.

Both were so different but at the same time the same. Both girls always found a way to make him feel happy. He could show a different face to them, a much warmer face. He could smile and laugh when they were around.

He thought that after Hinamori's death he would never be happy again. But Rukia changed that. She knew exactly how he felt, and for that he was grateful.

It took a little time for her to feel comfortable enough with his presence to show her real self. When she showed her true self, he soon discovered that she was very energetic.

When they weren't fighting they would sit beside each other to talk. She told him about her life at Rukongai and how Byakuya adopted her. He in return told her about his childhood, about how he met Hinamori and how he became a captain. It was always easy to talk to her. They would sit four hours just talking. He liked how things were turning out.

He never told anybody about his private training with Rukia. He knew that she didn't tell anybody either. He liked to keep it that way. It was his secret.

He wanted to learn more things about her. 'I want to know everything about you,' he thought with a smile. 'I wonder if she thinks of me.' That was his last thought before closing his eyes and falling sleep. To bad the sun was starting to rise and he would need to wake up soon.

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Review please 


	4. Crying

_Disclaimer-_ I don't own bleach

_Author notes_- Sorry for taking so long to update.

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Crying

The room was in complete silence. No one in the room believed what was happening. The tenth squad captain was late for a meeting. The young captain was never late. He was actually obsessed with punctuality.

The door opened slowly revealing the young captain. The others captains waited for him to enter the room. Slowly the white haired boy made his way to the front of the room. He felt the eyes the eyes of everybody in the room on him. 'I better finish this quickly,' he thought with a groan.

"Captain Hitsugay, can you please explain to us why you were two hours late?" the first squad captain asked.

"I'm truly sorry captain Yamamoto for coming late, but yesterday I stayed up late doing paper work," Hitsugaya lied.

Captain Yamamoto just nodded. "Because this was your first time late I will forgive you. I expect you on time next time."

Hitsugay nodded and turned around to find his place when the other captain said, "And also next time you better say the truth."

The room exploded in laughter. The young captain was tomato red when he found his place in the room.

He stood in his place trying to ignore the laughs. This was the first time in his life that someone made of fun of him. He was angry. Not only because of the laughs but with himself.

"Why can't I stop thinking of her?" He had been awake all night thinking of Rukia. Every time he closed his eyes a mental picture of her appeared. "I haven't staid awake thinking of someone since Hinamori's death," he thought feeling the familiar pain come to his heart.

During all the meeting he didn't pay too much attention. He keep wondering why he always thought of Rukia. He wondered what was the feeling he felt when he was near her. The only conclusion he got was that maybe he liked her.

He didn't want to like anybody else. Liking another person would mean that he would forget Hinamori. "But I don't want to forget her." Pain came to his heart.

Matsumoto was laying on the sofa when the door opened with a bang. She fell to the floor with a squeak. She heard someone cursing. "Captain?" she asked.

"What?" he said with an icy tone.

"Are you okay?" she asked with a nervous voice.

"Why?" he said with the same icy tone.

"Uh...well you look mad. You are usually very calm, captain" the red haired woman said.

He looked at her with cold green eyes. He couldn't tell her what. "None of your business; I will go train," he said. He walked to the door and excited the room. He felted someone grabbing his arm. "Wait captain," Matsumoto said "You have been training a lot. I was wondering if I could train with you." She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"No," he simply said. He turned around and left the room. She watched him go with tears in her gray eyes. She wanted to help him forget Hinamori's death, to help erase painful memories. She wanted to be the one to save him from his sorrow, but it seemed that he didn't want to be saved.

'Why don't you let me help you,' she thought. Tears now fell to the ground.

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	5. Stories of ViceCaptains part I

_Discalimer_- I don't own bleach

_Author Notes_- Thanks to all the people that have giving me a review. And also thanks to my beta reader Lindsay (a.k.a. Herbby). I want to dedicate this chapter to Phoenix-aerith she has review all my chapters, thanks for reading my story, your review always make my day **XD**

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Stories of Vice-Captains

'Where is she?' the white haired boy thought. He was sitting against a tree with his arms crossed in front of him. His scowl grew bigger with each passing second. He have been waiting for her for the last two hours. He was getting inpatient. He was about to go and find where out she was, but he saw her walking to were he was sitting.

He would not go easy on her this time. He was in an awful mood. He was going to give her a piece of his mind. "Why are you this late?" he asked her angrily. He wasn't looking at her; he had been staring at a tree.

She flinched at his voice. "Sorry. I was busy," she said to him. He looked up to see her face but she was giving him her back. He heard the sadness in her voice. His awful mood disappeared and now concern replaced it. He had known her for a couple of weeks now and he knew that something was wrong.

He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. Now they were facing each other. He studied her face. She was avoiding looking at him. She didn't want to meet his cold, green eyes.

He wanted to know what was wrong. "Look at me," he said to her with a firm, yet soft voice. She looked up and met his eyes. Time stopped for a moment. Both were searching for something in each other eyes.

He didn't like what he found. In her eyes he found sadness, pain and doubt. He felt something on his chest, but he didn't pay attention to it. He was more concerned about the girl in front of him.

"Are you ok?" he asked her, his eyes never leaving hers. She looked down again and said "Nothing. Lets train." She removed his hand from her shoulder, and turned around. She only moved two steps before he grabbed her wrist and turned her around again.

"Look, I have been waiting for you to come for the last two hours. My day hasn't been that good, and I'm not in a great mood. I know something is wrong. Please tell me," he said, the last part almost in a whisper. He looked at her face; she wasn't looking at him. He tried again, "Please, I want to help you."

Both were silent. Rukia kept looking at the ground, and Hitsugaya's eyes never left her face. "So you won't let me help you," he thought. He removed his hand from her wrist and was about to move when he heard her voice.

"I was made into a vice-captain," she said in a monotone voice just with the small hint of sadness. "Captain Ukitake told me this morning that I was more than perfect for the job."

She was hiding her eyes with her hair. Her hands were made into fists. He didn't understand what the problem was. He knew that she was a great fighter and also very smart. "You should be happy-" but she cut him off.

"You don't understand!" she told him in a cold voice. "You don't understand how you could." Tears fell from her pale cheeks. Again he felt something in his chest. He had never seen her cry. He moved closer to her and try to grab her hand. She moved away from him.

Rukia hated to show weakness in front of others. She had been taught to never show emotion. But know she was crying in front of a captain. 'What would nii-sama think of me if he saw me acting like this?' she thought with a sad smile. Hitsugaya's voice brought her back to reality. "Explain to me why becoming a vice-captain is bad and maybe I would understand," he said with a calm voice.

He waited for her to speak. She took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to become vice-captain because it was Kain-dono's job," she told him with pain in her voice.

"It was his job before he died. He was great at this. He was the first person that accepted me in the squad. He didn't treat me special because I was Byakuya's sister. He trained and taught me everything. When he was around I felt happy. People were starting to say that we had an affair, but he didn't care. His wife didn't mind either. She also treated me well. She was like a sister to me.

"The three of us were happy. But his wife was sent to exterminate a hollow and was killed in the mission. Kain-dono was furious. When they brought the body they didn't notice that the hollow was inside her body hiding. The hollow killed many shinigamis, so Kain-dono tried to stop it. Captain Ukitake and I followed him. Because he was too angry to think properly he made a mistake and the hollow went inside of him.

"With his last will power he told me to kill him. I didn't want to but he begged to me to kill him. I wanted to end the pain. That night I took the life of the only person that understood me. And now if I accept to become captain I will take his place."

She was crying harder know. Telling him this was very hard. She was a horrible person. She didn't deserve to live. Ichigo shouldn't have saved her. Her knees went weak and she collapsed to the ground.

"Kain-dono didn't deserve to die! It should have been the other way around, I should be dead!"

"No"

She felt a pair of strong arms hugging her.

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	6. Stories of ViceCaptains part II

Disclaimer- I don't own bleach

Author Notes- I really hope you guys like it )

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Stories of Vice-Captains part II

She was surprised when she felt a pair of arms hugging her. Her face was pushed to a hard chest. She could hear his heart beats. She wasn't anymore on her knees. He have lifted her when he hugged her.

"No" he repeated "fool, do you ever thought that maybe there was another person carrying the same burden." She stopped making crying sounds but, he could feel her tears on his clothes. She was shaking a little but not too much.

It have broken his heart to see her in such a weak state. He was use to see her with a brave face. To see the determination on her eyes when ever they trained together.

He didn't like to see her like this. When he saw her cheeks tainted with tears, the only word he could think of was broken. Broken was a good way to describe her.

She didn't show it, but now he knew that she was broken. The way her voice shacked with sorrow. The way her hands were made into fist by anger. The way her tears fell from her eyes with pain. All this sings were screaming broken.

Grey clouds crowded the sky. Thunder could be heard. A cold wind blew. Rain was coming. Neither of them notice it.

She stopped crying after a while. Her face was steel pressed to his chest. She didn't dare to look up. She was still embarrassed from showing that much weakness. She waited for him to stop hugging her, but it looked that he wouldn't do that. She felt him took a deep breath and then he spoke.

"I used to live in Rukongai with Hinamori. I was much younger than her, but I always felt the need to protect her. When she left me to go to the shinigami academy, I decided to follow her. I was a year behind her. So every day I trained hard just to be able to reach her level.

She wanted to be in the fifth division. It was her ultimate goal. She wanted to be with her most precious person." He became silent, his body went rigid. When he spoke again his voice was void of any emotion. "She wanted to be with Azien" he said the his name with the coldest voice Rukia have ever heard.

A cold rain started to fall from the sky.

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	7. Stories of ViceCaptains part III

_Disclaimer-_ i don't own bleach (WHY GOD WHY?!)

Author Notes- i'm still alive as you can see, please don't kill for not updating in a long time. Is just that my finals exams(teachers are the spawns of the devil!!!!) were coming and i didn't have any time to write. But don't worry school already has finish and know i'm free to write more chapters. As my apology I make this chapter longer than usual. I hope you like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to my beta reader (Lindsay you ROCK!!!!!!!)

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Stories of Vice-Captains part III

'Where are you captain?' she thought. Matsumoto was standing in front of a window. The window showed how a powerful storm was hitting Seireitei. People were already asleep, not noticing the storm. The only people awake were the poor shinigamis that needed to guard the gates. Who could be awake in such hour? Well Matsumoto was.

'It's almost three, where could he be?' she thought biting her lower lip. She tried to look for any signs of her captain, but the storm was making it impossible. She was so worried. In the course of the week she hadn't seen him at all. She wondered what could take so much of his time. A knock at the door awake her from her musings.

The knocking was getting louder by each second. When she opened the door she found a very wet Kira standing at the door. He was panting, like if he has run a marathon. His clothes were all muddy and his hair was sticking to his face.

"What are you doing here Kira? Shouldn't you be with your squad?" she said moving to give him space to go inside. "W-where is the c-captain?" he asked looking around the office. "I don't know. He just told me that he was going to train," she said walking outside. "I came here to inform him that captain Yamamoto, has requested a meeting now, because… where are you going?" Kira said. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to look for my captain. By the way will you be nice and lock the door when you go, thanks" she said walking out. But before getting any farther a hand caught her wrist.

"Kira?" she asked looking at the hand that grabbed her wrist. "You shouldn't worry," the blond said. She looked up to see his face, but he was looking the other way. "You are worrying to much. I'm sure he will come back on his own," he said while letting go of her wrist, and walking to where the window was.

She looked one more time outside before going in and closing the door behind her. She walked to were Kira was and stood beside him. She crossed her arms in front of her and leaned her back against the window. She stood in silence besides him. "Why are you so worried about him?" he asked in a casual voice. Silence was his answer. 'Maybe I shouldn't have asked' he thought turning around to face her. "Sorry I shouldn't have asked," he said to her with a bow. "It's ok; you don't have to apologize," she said to him with a wave of her hand. When the silence was returning he decided to try to make a conversation, but she spoke first.

"He hasn't been himself. He has been acting colder than usual. Sure, he can be cold and everything, but it's just that I know something is wrong. I know that Hinamori's death affected him, but I can feel he is hiding something. At Hinamori's funeral he didn't cry or anything he just stood there as if nothing had happened. Not showing any sign of emotion. But this is different. I could see all the pain, but it wasn't just that; there was also guilt and something else, but I don't know what it could be.

"The next days he kept going to visit her tomb. I tried to follow him once, but he found my aura, and told me not to follow him ever again. So every time he left I waited for him to return and every time he returned an air of guilt surrounded him. His eyes showed emptiness, like if something was missing. I tried to fill the hole in his soul, but I couldn't. He kept pushing me away. I thought that maybe that Hinamori is dead, I could become his special person, but he just kept on pushing.

"I'm so pathetic, feeling jealous of someone that's dead. But I can't help it. I want to be the person to heal him; to make the pain go away; to clean his soul from guilt. But I know I won't be able to do anything for him, because to him the only person that could heal him is dead. And I can't do anything to help him."

She couldn't hold the tears anymore; they were running free from her eyes. Her hands were made into fists. Her whole body was shaking. She could feel pain coming from her heart. It was hurting so much. Breathing was becoming hard. She was going to apologize to Kira for annoying him with her stupid speech, but she felt a hand bringing her head up.

"You are wrong," he said in a calm voice. "You are not being pathetic, you are just being you. You care a lot for him; it's just natural for you to be worried about him. It's true that he has been acting colder than usual, but he can't help it. He is just the type of person that bottles his feelings. But also he values his friends. If he ever needs someone I'm sure that he will go to you. You are one of his most valuable friends," he said letting go of her face.

"You are just being stupid, for worrying. And besides if he is too blind to see that you care for him, he is just a stupid midget that has issues," he said to her with a smile. Her hand wiped away any trace of tears. "Thanks Kira," she said giving him a smile. "Don't mention it," he told her with a slight blush.

"You know that captain Hitsugaya is going to kill you," she said. "Why?" the blond asked. "For calling him a stupid midget," Matsumoto told him. "P-please Matsumoto don't tell him I said that. I don't want to die!" he said hugging her legs. "I don't know. Maybe if you tell me why captain Yamamot requested a meeting," she said in a play full tone.

Immediately Kira stopped hugging her legs, and stood. His face became paler than ever and he was sweating. "Kira is there something wrong?" she said. "I remember why it was so important to find captain Hitsugaya," Kira said very nervous.

"Why was it so important?" Matsumoto asked.

"Ha ha ha, well…you see……….."

* * *

Gray clouds adorned the sky, hiding the stars and the moon. Thunder could be heard in the distance. A cold and strong wind was making the cups of the trees shake. The rain drops could freeze anybody who was unlucky enough to be outside. But the two figures that stood in the middle of the clearing didn't seem to notice or simply didn't care. There was not a single part of them that wasn't soaked. But neither ice-typed zanpakuto user notice. They were lost in their little world.

Rukia's face was pressed to his chest; she could hear the beating of his heart. When he had said his name, she was surprised at the coldness of his voice. 'It's even colder than nii-sama's voice when he told me I was sentenced to die,' she thought. She had heard that Hitsugaya hated Aizen, but never knew why. She moved from him just enough to see his face.

What she saw broke her heart. His green eyes looked so empty. Rukia couldn't remember ever seeing his eyes like that. She couldn't find any trace of the warmth they held when ever they met. People said that the eyes are the door to the soul. If that was true, she could see that his soul was hallowed.

Rain was still pouring from the sky, when he spoke again. "She was able to reach her goal. She became his vice-captain. It didn't take me too much time to reach the captain level, since everybody called me a genius. I thought that once I became captain, she would look at me the way she looked at him. But I was wrong. She still had only eyes for him," he said. This time his voice sounded sad.

"Even if she only thought of him, I didn't stop caring for her. I still felt the need to protect her. Your probably don't know this, but when you were in the white tower Aizen faked his death. Hinamori was the one to find his body. She thought the Ichimaru was the one to kill him, so she tried to kill him. Kira out of loyalty to Ichimaru protected him and fought her. I stopped her before she could get harmed. She and Kira were sent to jail.

"Hinamori escaped from jail, after receiving a letter from Aizen. The letter said that I was the one who killed him. She found me when I was fighting Ichimaru, and tried to kill me. I didn't want to injure her so I knocked her out. I brought her to the 10th division headquarters. I made a barrier so nobody could enter, but she was an expert in kido and broke the barrier from the inside. She got to Chamber of 46, were she found Ichimaru and Aizen.

"When she went to embrace him he stabbed her. When I asked him why he did it he just said: _"A__admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding__"_, he explained the she was just a puppet and that killing her was an act of kindness. I tried to kill to him, but I was fooled and I got myself almost killed. Captain Unohana saved Hinamori and me.

"Hinamori went into a coma. She stayed like that for weeks. When she finally opened her eyes she asked where Aizen was," Hitsugaya said. He took a deep breath before continuing. "She didn't believe me when I told her what Aizen have done. She thought that I was lying to her. She stopped eating, sleeping, she just wanted to see him one more time. I couldn't stand it anymore. I yelled at her. I told her that she was being stupid. That she was fool for loving that bastard." He closed his eyes and said "I told her that I loved her."

When he opened again they were full of emotion. "I was about to go to the human world, when Matsumoto came running to me and told me that Hinamori was dying. She tried to kill herself. When I got to her room captain Unohana told me that she couldn't save her. She was on her bed. She looked pail and thin. I went to her side; she opened her eyes, and looked at me apologetically. She said the she was sorry, but that she couldn't return my feelings, that she still loved Aizen, and that she whished things could have been different. I embraced her. That day she died in my arms."

Everything went silent. The wind stopped moving the trees. No more thunder could be heard. Just the cold rain kept coming. This time Rukia did feel the rain.

She didn't know what to say. She looked at his eyes. They were so expressive. She saw pain, sorrow, emptiness, loneliness, and guilt. She could understand his feelings but why did he felt guilt? She wanted to ask him, but before she could say anything he said. "I loved her more than anything. I wanted to protect her from everything, but I failed. She is dead, because I wasn't strong enough to protect her. For that I'm as guilty as Aizen for her death," he said in emotionless voice.

She hated it. She hated to see him like that. He looked defeated. She could feel the sadness of his soul. She wanted to erase it. She wanted to fill him again. She wanted to make him feel alive. "Do you understand now?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer. Hitsugaya cupped her cheek and brought her face closer. "You said that you should be the one dead instead of Kein. You don't have any idea what it would be to lose you too. I wouldn't be able to stand your death.

"We both are broken. We both have lost a special person. You have been the only person that understood how I felt. Help me heal my soul, Rukia, and I will help you heal yours. Help me forget the loneliness, the pain, help me forget everything please." Hitsugaya said. She wasn't sure if the water coming from his eyes were the rain drops or tears. But either way it was heart breaking to see him like that. Seeing the great ice-dragon plead for help; she didn't like it.

He leaned his forehead with hers. Eyes half closed. She could smell him. He smelled fresh, like mint. "I want to help you, with your broken soul. Let me in." She could feel his lips brushing hers. Her hands were leaning on his chest. His arms were on her waist, bringing her closer to him. She could feel the warmth coming from him. It was comforting.

"Please Rukia" he whispered and closing his eyes completely "please…"

"Yes"

Soft lips touched his.

Too immersed in their world, they failed to notice a man with a fox like face. "Aizen-sama will find this very interesting" he said while disappearing in the night.

* * *

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	8. Bad News

_Disclaimer-_ I don't own Bleach

_Author Notes-_ I'm so sorry for taking so long to update.

* * *

Bad News

Seireitei was slowly waking up. The sun was up in the sky, erasing every trace of the storm. The sun rays were making their way though the window of the office of the ten squad. The rays of light were giving warmth to all the room; even the young captain was starting to warm up.

His black clothes were wet and muddy, and his hair was sticking to his face. He had been inside the office just couple minutes. He had spent all night outside in the storm. He was more than sure that he was going to get a cold. But he didn't care. Last night has been a very good night.

He could feel his eyelids were heavy with sleep. He stretched his arms before folding them on top of his desk, and resting his head on them.'A nap won't hurt,' Hitsugaya thought while closing his eyes. He was starting to fall sleep when the door was opened with a bang. 'Damn,' he thought.

An orange haired woman and a blond man entered the office. Both were very wet and they looked tire. Neither of them noticed the young captain.

"Matsumoto, you should calm down," Kira said.

"Don't tell me to calm down Kira! My captain is lost," Matsumoto said while sitting on the sofa, "He is not like this. By this time he is usually already asleep."

"How did you know that, Matsumoto? Have you been stalking him?" Kira asked while imagining a chibi Matsumoto looking at Hitsugaya from behind a tree.

"Of course not! I onl-" she was interrupted by the young captain.

"It's too early in the morning, Matsumoto; please stop shout-" and he was interrupted because he was tackled to the ground by a very happy Matsumoto.

"Captain!" Matsumoto squeaked.

"Get off me!" Hitsugaya said while trying to free himself from Matsumoto embrace.

"Sorry captain, it's just that we have been searching for you all night, but we couldn't find you. Where were you captain?" Matsumoto asked. She helped Hitsugaya stand up. He dusted himself and asked "Why were you looking for me?"

"We were looking for you becau-…hey!" she said "You ignored my first question." She stood straight, with arms crossed across her chest. She glared down at her captain. Hitsugaya looked like a deer caught in headlights. "You are hiding something," she said in a accusing tone. Hitsugaya gulped. 'Damn Matsumoto can be really smart if she wants to, but why did her brain turn on now?' he thought while backing away from Matsumoto.

"What are you talking about? I'm not hiding anything," he said while avoiding her eyes. "You are lying, captain. Now tell me where you were last night," she said. 'There is no way I'm telling her that I was with Rukia,' he thought. Just remembering Rukia's face brought a light blush to his face. "I was…emm…" he said 'Think!' "Eating watermelons." 'Nice, and I'm supposed to be a prodigy.'

"You were eating watermelons in the middle of a storm?" Matsumoto asked with an eyebrow raise. "Yeah, don't you know that they taste better that way," he said sounding really serious. "Now if you don't have anything else to say I want to start my paper work."

"Just one more thing captain, before you go. Why are your lips all swollen?" she asked in the most innocent voice she could muster. 'Damn' he thought. "Another thing captain, your clothes don't look like they are in place, they look a little messy" Matsumoto said "would you tell me why?"

"My lips are swollen because the watermelon was freezing, and my clothes look messy because of the wind. Look at you clothes they are also messy" Hitsugaya said in a bore tone, 'nice safe'.

"Cut the crap captain! I know that you are lying!" she screamed.

"I'm not lying!" he screamed back.

"Yes you are! You were kissing someone!"

"I was not!"

"Yes you were! Tell me who she is!"

"I'm not telling you her name!"

"Ha! I knew it you are dating someone! Who is she?"

'Shit.' "Matsumoto I'm not telling you her name because, I'm not dating anybody!"

"Sorry to interrupt but, captain, you need to-" Kira tried to say.

"Shut up!" Hitsugaya and Matsumoto said in unison. They glare at each other.

"Tell me!"

"No!"

Tell me!"

"No!"

"_Tell _me!"

"_No!"_

"Tell me, damn it!"

"NO!"

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Kira screamed.

Both Hitsugaya and Matsumoto looked at Kira. "You don't need to scream, gosh" Matsumoto said. "You could have asked more nicely." She took her place at the sofa. "I tried but you wouldn't listen!" Kira said. Hitsugaya walked to his desk and took his place behind it. "Calm down, vice-captain Kira," Hitsugaya said returning to his serious captain voice. "Could you please tell me why were you looking for me?" Hitsugaya said.

"Shoot!" Kira and Matsumoto said. "Well? Will you tell me or not?" Hitsugaya said in a very irritated voice. He was getting tired of them not telling him why they were looking for him. "Captain when we tell you why we were looking for you, _please _try to stay calm," Matsumoto said in a really serious voice. "Yes, captain Hitsugaya, _please_ stay calm," Kira also said. "Just tell me!" Hitsugaya said.

Matsumoto was hiding behind Kira; they were shaking in fear. Kira gulped before speaking. "Yesterday evening there was a report saying that…"

* * *

The doors of the office were opened forcefully by a very angry captain. He walked directly to the front of the room and stood in front of the commander of the Gotei 13. The once warm room was becoming cold. All eyes were looking at the young captain. The air in the room was heavy.

"Where is _he_?" Hitsugaya asked in a low tone. The commander took his time before answering the younger captain. "You have no right to ask that, captain Hitsugaya. You are late _again_ to a meeting. So before me answering any questions you could have, you will need to explain why you were late," he said with a tone of voice that didn't leave room for further discussion.

The temperature in the room dropped even more. Hitsugaya glared at his superior, before answering him. "You send vice-captain Kira to look for me, but he couldn't find me until early this morning" Hitsugaya said into the old man's eyes. Commander Yamamoto stared back at the white hair it captain. "Why couldn't vice-captain Kira find you?" he asked.

Hitsugaya glared even harder at the old man. Silence was the only answer commander Yamamoto received from the young captain. They kept staring into each other eyes before neither of them spoke. "This will be the last time I will allow you to come to a meeting late. Their will be no next time. Now, captain Hitsugaya, take your place in line," Commander Yamamoto said.

Hitsugaya turned around and walked to his place when the voice of the commander stopped him. "I will like to speak with you after the meeting," he said. Hitsugaya didn't turn to look at the commander, he just continued to walk to his place in line. Once Hitsugaya stood between the ninth and eleventh division captains, Commander Yamamoto spoke again.

"Now that all the captains of the Gotei 13 are present I will inform you why I called you. As you know there were several reports about missing shinigamis, but they are also some reports about fox-like faced man and a brown haired man. The reports say that both men were near the places were the shinigamis were last seeing. These men are Ichimaru Gin and Sosuke Aizen." At the mention of the last man name the room became even colder.

"Yesterday confirmed the suspicions I have about they been the reason why so many shinigamis are lost. As you know there has been an unusual raise in the attacks of hollows. I'm sure you remember Vice-captain Shiba Kaien and the way he died," he paused to look at Ukitake before continuing "Some of you are new captains so you probably don't know him or how he died.

"He died because he was possesed by a hollow. His body couldn't hold the presence of the hollow and another shinigami ended his life. I'm telling you this because something similar is happening. We have found the bodies of shinigamis with mutations," he said and waited for the information to sink in.

"So basically what you are saying is that Aizen is shinigamis into hollow" Mayuri said while rubbing his chin with his hand.

"Yes" the commander said.

"Interesting, I would like to research on one of these special hollows," Mayuri said.

"Sick bastard," Kenpachi said.

"What did you say?" Mayuri said while turning around to glare at the eleventh division captain.

"You heard me. You are a sick bastard that only thinks of new ways to 'research'," Kenpachi said with disgust.

"Well at least I'm not an idiot that doesn't even know the name of his zanpakutos" Mayuri said.

"You mother fu-" Kenpachi couldn't continue his fight because the door was opened by a young low ranked shinigami. He was covered in cuts, he tried to move but he collapsed to the floor. Unohona was by his side in a second. She tried to heal him but the cuts were too deep. The boy opened his eyes and said. "T-they at-ttack …the…K-kuchiki house…"

In less than a second Byakuya and Hitsugaya were beside the boy. "When did they attack?" Byakuya asked. "Early…i-in the…m-moring" the boy said "they k-killed…everybody." Everybody in the room was shaking in cold; they could see their own breath. "Did they kill Rukia?" Hitsugaya said in an empty voice. They boy took a deep breath before answering. "N-no but…they t-took h-her…with them…they a-also told m-me to g-give this t-to you," the boy said while handing Hitsugaya a piece of paper. After Hitsugaya grabbed the paper the boy's eyes closed and he died.

Hitsugaya unfolded the piece of paper and read it. All eyes were looking at the young captain. "Is it just me or is it freezing here?" Kenpachi said breaking the silence. He rubbed his arms trying to generate some warmth. He turned around and looked through the window. "It's snowing!" Kenpachi said while pointing to the window.

Everybody took his eyes from Hitsugaya and looked out the window. It was true. Snow was falling from the sky, but it was more like a snow storm. Nobody noticed as Hitsugaya shook in anger or how he crumbled the note in his fist.

The note said:

_By the time you receive this note I will be already out of your reach, but don't worry I will take great care of Rukia-chan. I know how much you __would hateit if something happened to her. I will give you an advice. If you are going to confess your feelings to someone make sure nobody is listening._

_Aizen _

* * *

_More notes-_ A friend is asking me to iclude Ichigo in the story I'm not sure if I should include him. What do you think?

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	9. Rescue Team

_Disclimer-_ I don't own bleach

_Author's notes-_ Please don't kill!!! I was suppose to update this story last week but as you know my beta reader is in USA, so she wasn't able to send it to me until this week.

* * *

Rescue Team

It was already midnight. Most people were already asleep in the Kurosaki clinic except for an orange haired boy. He was still awake. He kept looking at his closet. He knew nothing was there; it was empty. But that didn't keep him from waiting for a petit shinigami to come out. But she never appeared.

'I should go to sleep; she won't come today either,' he thought bitterly. It had already been a month since he went to Souls Society to rescue her. And still he kept waiting for her to appear and turn his worlds upside down just like last time, but she never came.

He gave the closet a last glance, before climbing to his bed to try to sleep. After a couple of minutes of turning around in bed, he could feel sleep coming. When he was losing consciousness, he heard his window open. A hell butterfly came from the window

"Rukia!" he said while sitting up and looking at the black clothed figure that was kneeling in the window friend.

"Wrong."

He looked more closely at the dark figure. Rukia didn't have a masculine, Rukia didn't have red hair tied in a high pony tail, and Rukia didn't have weird tattoos on her eyebrows. The only person he knew to have those traits was…. "Renji!" Ichigo shouted. He fell from the bed with a loud thud.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Ichigo shouted.

"Rukia is in danger" Renji said.

"What happe-" Ichigo tried to say but, was cut off when Renji thrust a hand, with a very familiar red glove, into his chest and took his soul out of his body. "Come on idiot, we don't have time to waste," Renji while grabbing Ichigo by the collar of his robes and jumped out of the window.

* * *

Renji didn't stop running until they arrived in front of Urahara's shop. He threw Ichigo to the ground "Jerk! Why did you throw me?!" Ichigo said. "Stop whining and follow me. The others are waiting for us." Renji said walking in the store. Ichigo followed Renji inside. Renji lifted the floor of the store and climbed down the stairs, Ichigo following. 

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime said waving at them, beside her stood Urahara, Ishida, and Chad. Renji and Ichigo walked to where the others were. "Why did you bring us here, Urahara?" Ichigo asked facing the older man.

"I wasn't the one to call you all. It was he who asked me to bring you all here" Urahara said pointing at Renji.

"Why?" asked Ichigo.

"I already told you. Rukia is in danger," he said.

"What happened to her?!" Ichigo said.

"Aizen kidnapped her," he said. Everybody tensed when they heard the name. They remembered how powerful he was. Images of how easily he defeated Ichigo's bankai were running in their minds.

"Yesterday the Kuchiki mansion was attacked. We didn't notice until the attack began," Renji said.

"But what about Byakuya?! He could have protected Rukia!" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, calm down," Ishida said.

"He couldn't because earlier that day we found some traces of Aizen spirit energy, so Commander Yamamoto called a captain meeting immediately. That's why Captain Byakuya wasn't there to protect her," Renji explained.

"Do you have any idea as to why Aizen kidnapped her?" Urahara asked.

"Commander Yamamoto thinks that it has to with the hougyoku. He thinks that maybe because Rukia was the seal for the hougyoku for so long, that maybe she absorbed some of the orb's power. And that Aizen needs her to use the orb," Renji said.

"I have a question," Ishida said. "Why are you telling us this?"

"It was decided that a rescue team will be sent to save Rukia," Renji said. "The team consists of me, Matsumoto, Ikakku, Kira, and a few captains. Commander Yamamoto also included Ichigo in the mission since he achieved bankai and he was the one who rescued Rukia last time."

"Even if I wasn't in the rescue team I have saved Rukia, but why are the others here?" Ichigo asked.

"The commander also said that your friends were strong but not strong enough for this mission. That is why he said it was your decision if you wanted to let them go with you," Renji said crossing his arms in front of him. "So are you letting them go with us?"

"No," said Ichigo.

"What? Why?!" Ishida and Orihime said at the same time. Chad only raised an eyebrow.

"I agree with the old man. You guys are strong but not strong enough. Last time you were beaten really badly. And you were fine because people took care of your wounds. But this time there will not be anyone to help you. And I don't think I will be able to protect you all," he said not looking at anybody.

"But Kuchiki-san is also our friend! I want to help rescue her! I will do anything!" Orihime protested.

"But tell me, Orihime. Are you able to attack someone with a killing intent? Will you be able to take someone's life?" Ichigo asked looking directly at her.

"I-I…" she said. Water was starting to build in her eyes.

"Look Orihime, you are not made to take the life of people. You are the type of person that saves the life of people. That is why I'm not letting you go," Ichigo said with a firm voice.

"I understand why you don't want Orihime to fight; I also don't want anything to happen to her, but I'm not like that. I was able to defeat the twelfth division captain!" Ishida said.

"I recognize that you have become strong but I still won't let you go. Tell me if I'm wrong, but you were defeated by Tousen. We are going against Aizen this time; Tousen and Gin are also with him. You need to be able to fight for large amounts of time with different opponents at the same time. You need more training," Ichigo explained.

"But…" Ishida said.

"Besides, if you come with me who is going to protect Orihime?" Ichigo said with a smirk. Ishida didn't say anything; just blushed.

"You won't protest, Chad?" Ichigo said looking up at his tall friend.

"No, as much as I want to go, I know I will be a burden. I will stay here and train so next time I can go with you," he said.

"Oh," Ichigo said scratching the back of his neck. "Well I'm glad you understand why I can't let you go."

"Renji, do you know were Aizen is?" Ichigo said turning to face him.

"He is on Hueco Mundo" he said.

"How are we going there?" Ichigo asked.

"First we are going to Soul Society and from there we will open a gate to Hueco Mundo" Renji explained.

"One more thing. Who is the captain that is coming?" Ichigo said.

"Captain Hitsugaya," Renji told him.

"I thought that Byakuya was the one coming with us," said Ichigo.

"I thought that too, but Hitsugaya offered to go instead," Renji said.

"Does he know Rukia?"

"I don't think so."

"That's weird"

"I think he is going because he wants to avenge Hinamori."

"Who?" asked Ichigo.

"Never mind. We should be going," said Renji dismissively.

"Ok."

Renji took out his zanpakuto and pierced the air. A door now stood in front of them "Lets go" Renji said walking through the door.

"Well….I guess I will see you guys later," Ichigo said turning around and following Renji.

"Be careful Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime said to him.

"I will," Ichigo said with out turning. The door closed behind them and disappeared.

* * *

Ichigo stood in front of the same place where he saved Rukia. "Come on, Ichigo; we need to find the others," Renji said walking ahead of Ichigo. 

"Renji, why is it snowing so hard?" Ichigo asked shivering.

* * *

Author's notes- I decided to include Ichigo in the story. I'm not really happy with this chapter, it was more like a filler. This story is taking place after SS arc. Thanks to all the people that gave me a review last chapter!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!READ & REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	10. Memories & Meetings

_Disclaimer-_ bleach is not mine

_Author Notes-_ Thanks to all the people that gave me a review XD BTW Karel Ritza you are doing a fantastic job with your story, keep the good job!!! If you want to read another great story about hitsuxruki you need to read hers!!!

* * *

Meetings & Memories

Soul Society was covered in a thick blanket of snow. An orange haired boy and a red haired shinigami were trying there best to walk fast but there was too much snow. The cold wind was hitting there bodies, making them shiver. Renji sneezed. "I hate the snow" he said while rubbing his arms up and down trying to keep himself warm.

"I didn't know it snowed here," Ichigo said also rubbing his arms to keep warm. "It doesn't," Renji said "It only snows when Hitsugaya-taichou is angry. Last time it snowed was when some shinigamis were molesting Hinamori." Ichigo was about to ask who Hinamori but Renji beat him to it. "An ex-fukataicho he used to have a crush on. Anyway when he found out, those idiots were made into human popsicles" Renji said while laughing at the memory.

Ichigo couldn't blame Hitsugaya. He would have killed anyone who dared to touch Rukia. A proof to that were Keigo's constant visits to the nurse office, due to his attempts to hug the lovely 'Kuchiki-san'. "Where are we going?" Ichigo asked.

"We are meeting the others at Hitsugaya-taichou office to plan how to save Rukia," Renji explained. At the mention of Rukia name Ichigo became worried. He needed to save Rukia.

Ichigo and Renji stood in front of the door that leads to the office of the 10th division captain. Renji pushed the door open and entered the office, Ichigo following him. Inside the office Matsumoto was already sitting in the couch, beside her was Kira, Ikkaku was leaning against one of the walls and Hitsugaya was sitting behind his desk.

The first Ichigo noticed was that inside the office the air was even colder. And that Hitsugaya looked tense. "I'm sorry taichou for taking so long," Renji said bowing to the young captain.

Hitsugaya stared at Renji. He was starting to sweat due to the intensity of Hitsugaya's stare, when the young captain decided to speak. "Doesn't matter; just make sure to be on time tomorrow," he said. He stood up from in his place behind the desk, and stood were everybody could see him.

"Now that we are here, let's start," Hitsugaya said. They spent hours planning the best way to attack Aizen. Each of them memorized every detail until their heads were throbbing. Matsumoto convinced her taichou to give them a brake.

"We will be leaving tomorrow, early in the morning. I want you all to be there on time, we won't wait for anybody," Hitsugaya said crossing his arms in front of him. "Go and rest for the rest of the day. Save your strength for tomorrow, we will need all the possible strength to save Rukia. You are dismissed."

As everyone was leaving, Ichigo stayed in the office. He didn't know why but he could feel there was something wrong; the young captain was taking this mission too personal for his liking. Hitsugaya noticed that Ichigo stayed inside the office.

"Is something wrong?" Hitsugaya said while walking to his sit behind his desk. He waited for the response, but Ichigo stayed quiet. Hitsugaya rubbed his temples, and sighed. "If there is nothing wrong you should go and rest, you would need the energy if you want to save Rukia," Hitsugaya said. He was in an awful mood and just wanted to be alone. He needed time to think.

"I didn't know that you cared so much for Rukia. And also since when did you start calling her by her first name?" Ichigo asked. He didn't liked how Hitsugaya said her name.

Hitsugaya cursed in his mind. He wanted to maintain his relationship with Rukia private, at least until after she was saved. It wasn't like he was ashamed of being with her but he wasn't sure if they were even together. After all she was kidnapped before they could settle things up. But calling her by her first name was a give away.

"If I care for her or not is none of your business," Hitsugaya said, glaring at the boy that stood in front of him.

"We are talking about Rukia, of course it's my business!" Ichigo told Hitsugaya. Ichigo knew that Hitsugaya was hiding something, and he was more than sure that he wouldn't like it.

"I don't see why it would be of your business. You are not the only one that cares for her!" Hitsugaya knew that his anger was getting the best of him but he didn't care. The air in the office turned even colder.

"Don't forget that I was the one that saved her from execution! I don't remember you moving a finger to protect her!" Ichigo said slamming his hand at the desk. "Why the sudden change? I know that you are hiding something. If Rukia is hurt because of yo-" This time it was Hitsugaya the one who slammed his hand against the poor desk.

"I will NEVER hurt her!" Hitsugaya said.

"How could I be sure? The way you're acting towards her is completely different from the last time I was here! For all I know you could be working for Aizen!"

In a fragment of seconds Hitsugaya jumped the desk and with his zanpakutos threw a blow to the orange haired teenage. Ichigo took out zangetsu just in time to block the attack. But due to the power of the attack he was threw to one of the walls.

He moaned in pain. Ichigo tried to stand but stopped when he felt the tip of a sword at his neck. He looked up and saw Hitsugaya standing in front of him. They stayed in the same position for what seemed like hours. Finally one of them spoke.

"I will tell you this once, so you better remember it." Hitsugaya said locking gaze with Ichigo. "I will _never_ work for Aizen. I _hate _him. My sword will be the one to take him to hell. If you ever suggest again that I work for _him_, I will not hesitate to eliminate you."

Ichigo couldn't take his eyes away from Hitsugaya. They were glued to those cold green pools. The last time he felt such a killing aura was when he fought Kenpachi.

The door of the office was suddenly opened. "There is a huge blizzard outside" Renji said coming inside the office. "Anyway, Ichigo, I forgot to tell you were you are staying…what is going on?" Renji said grabbing the hilt of his sword, just in case things got a little rough. He knew that if Hitsugaya didn't remove his sword, he would try to stop him.

Hitsugaya toke a deep breath to calm himself. He slowly put his sword away and took a step back, giving Ichigo space to move.

Ichigo was finally able to brake free from Hitsugaya intense stare. He stood up and walked to where Renji was standing. "Let's go," he said simply.

Renji wanted to protest but Hitsugaya gave him a look that said, "_Don't ask questions and just go; that's an order!" _

The white haired captain was laying on his futon. One arm was covering his face, the other was stretched beside him. His zanpakuto was resting against one of the walls of the big room. He had managed to control his anger and make the blizzard go away, but the cold atmosphere that was surrounding Soul Society was still there.

After Ichigo and Renji were gone, he went to his room. He knew that Renji would tell Matsumoto about his fight with Ichigo. He didn't want to deal with her in that moment. So he wrote her a quick note telling her that she was in charge of the squad for the rest of the day and that he didn't want to be disturbed.

He knew that he acted irrationally. But Ichigo words have angered him and his anger took the best of him. But he couldn't help it.

It was true that when Rukia was sentenced to death he hadn't cared. At that time he didn't knew her. He had only known her as Byakuya's little sister. But that was in the past. He now knew her and he would do anything for her. This time Ichigo wouldn't be the one to save her; it would be him.

He was so worried about Rukia. How could he have not sensed Aizen? If only have been there, he could have protected her. He knew of what Aizen was capable off, he had felt his strength. One of his hands traced the scar were Aizen have stabbed him.

When Unohona asked him if he wanted her to erase the scar he had said no. He didn't want the scar gone because it was a reminder of how weak he was. That scar reminded him of how he has failed to protect his most precious person.

But this time it will be different. This time he would not fail.

'I will save you Rukia,' was his last thought before drifting to sleep.

* * *

_They were facing each other. Their zanpakutos ha__d been released. Their muscles ached due to all the hard training. But they ignored the pain. They were more concentrated trying to find an openings in the other defense. Neither of them wanted to lose to the other. _

_Because both their zanpakutos were ice typed, the whole place was covered in snow and ice. Each time they breathed the cold air burned their longs, it was like fuel to their bodies. They stared a little bit longer at each other eyes. Bang! Their swords clashed. _

_They were pushing their swords against each other. They stayed at the same position for a couple of minutes. But for them it seemed like hours. They locked gazes. He like how her amethyst eyes showed excitement each time they fought each other. That showed him how much she enjoyed his company. _

_His face broke into a warm smile. That was enough to distract her. She lost her concentration and slipped. She grabbed his arm and brought him with her to the snow covered floor. _

_The snow prevented them from getting hurt. Hitsugaya managed to fall with his elbows, so he wouldn't crush Rukia. Her hands were grabbing the front of his clothes. He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed._

_Her black hair was sprawled all aver the snow, and making a beautiful contrast with the white snow. She opened her eyes. His breath got caught in his throat. He knew that her eyes were beautiful, but now that he was so close they were breath taking. Snow started to fall from the sky,and some snowflakes kissed her cheeks. _

_His face moved closer to hers .His eyes moved down to her lips. Those rosy lips were to tempting. He could feel her hot breath on his face. A little closer and he would be able to kiss her!_

_His eyes moved away from her lips, back to her eyes. He could feel his eyelid heavy, not wanting to fight back the heaviness he closed his eyes. He was waiting to feel warm lips against his but what he received instead was snow smashed to his face._

_He removed himself from top of her, and sat beside her. He cleaned his face. He heard giggling. He looked down at Rukia, who was still lied on the snow. She was the one giggling. _

_"Why did you do that?__" he said trying to sound angry, that only made her giggle more. She stopped after a moment. She moved closer to him and sat beside him. "I'm sorry taichou. It's just that you were acting strange. Your face was flushed and your eyes were closed. I thought that you needed to refresh a little," she said, giving him a smile. _

_"So you were trying to refresh me, huh?" he said. One hand cupped her left cheek and bringing her face closer to his. "W-what are you d-doing?" she said, her face now red. "Are you sure that I'm the one needed to be refreshed and not you?" he said in a low voice. "I-I… " was her clever answer._

_He gave her a smirk. She was now as red as a tomato. With his free hand he smashed a snowball at her face._

_He was now grabbing his side in pain; not because of the training but because of how much he was laughing. _

"_Why did you do that?" laughed Rukia._

_"I t-thought you needed t-to re-refresh" he managed to say between laughs. "This means war!" she said throwing another snowball at him. "If you want war, I will give you war!" he said while throwing a snowball himself. _

_They spent__ the rest of the afternoon playing in the snow. _

* * *

He woke up disoriented. It took him some minutes to notice that he was still on his room. He pushed his upper body from the futon, and scratched his back of his neck. He looked at the clock that was at his left. He still had two hours before meeting with the others. He laid again on the futon and sighed. 

Today they were going to go to Hueco Mundo to save Rukia. He still remembered his dream. It wasn't a dream; it was a memory, and it was his favorite memory. He looked again at the clock and decided it was better to get going.

He knew that for being able to rescue Rukia, he needed Ichigo. So he would swallow his pride and apologize. "The things I do for you Rukia," Hitsugaya said out loud, with a smile.

* * *

It didn't surprise him to find himself waiting alone. After all he had arrived half an hour earlier. He was nervous, but didn't show it. He closed his eyes and waited for the others. The young captain felt the presence of someone else; he didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was. 

Ichigo walked to where Hitsugaya was and stood across from him. They stood in silence and neither of them wanted to talk. Hitsugaya decided it was time to break the ice.

"I will get straight to the point. What happened yesterday was my fault. I shouldn't have let my anger take the best of me. But if we want to save Rukia we need to work together. " Hitsugaya said. He waited for Ichigo to say something. Ichigo stayed quiet. 'Be patient, you are doing this for Rukia,' he thought making sure to keep his cool. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"Fine, I also apologize for the way I acted yesterday," Ichigo said not looking at Hitsugaya. "So this is a truce?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, you can say so," Hitsugaya said. They stayed quiet for a moment. Each lost in their own mind.

"She made it stop right?" Ichigo asked. Hitsugaya arched a white eyebrow. "You know what I'm talking about. She was able to make the rain stop for you too."

Hitsugaya thought about what Ichigo told him. "Yes she did."

"She tends to do that," Ichigo told him, with a knowing smile.

The others arrived a couple of minutes later. "Now that we are all here I will open the door to Hueco Mundo. Once inside we are in Aizen's territory. Remember the plan and try not to get yourself killed," Hitsugaya said.

He turned around and opened the doors to Hueco Mundo. A dessert stood in front of them. Hitsugaya took a deep breath and took a step inside.

'I will save you Rukia. I will not lose you to Aizen.'

* * *

Read & Review


	11. As you wish

_Disclaimer-_ bleach is not mine

_Author's notes-_ sorry for taking so long to update. Thanks to all the people the reviewes last time! I started school last week, teachers are giving me tons of homework. Anyway in this chapter Hitsu and the others are already inside in Aizen's castle (I was to lazy to write how they went inside XP) Please Enjoy!

* * *

As You Wish

They stood in front of two huge white doors. They were tired; they had been fighting for hours, just to be able to reach this room. Once they entered this room, there was no promise that they would exit it alive.

Knowing all this already, the white haired captain still wanted to go inside. He turned around to look at his companions. They looked tired, but still had enough energy to put up a good fight; especially the orange haired substitute shinigami. Ichigo had risked his life for Rukia once, he would risk twice.

Hitsugaya couldn't help but smile a little. 'Sorry, Kurosaki Ichigo, but this time I will be the one to save Rukia,' Hitsugaya thought. He looked in front of him again. His small smile faded away and a determined expression came over his face.

He pushed the huge doors open. A blinding light hit their faces, making them close their eyes.

"Congratulations, you were able to pass all my hollows" Aizen said standing at the end of the huge room. Gin and Tousen were also there, standing at either side of Aizen.

"Aizen!" Hitsugaya said, his spiritual energy increasing dramatically. His hand was already reaching for his zanpakuto.

"Hitsugaya-kun I see you are fine. Unohona-taichou did a fantastic job healing the wound I gave you," Aizen said smirking.

"Cut the crap Aizen! You know why we are here!" Ichigo said.

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm afraid I don't know. Why you are here?" Aizen said faking innocence. "Where is Rukia?!" Ichigo barked at Aizen.

"Oh yes Rukia-chan, she is right here" he said moving to his right, revealing Rukia. She was sitting in a white throne. Her shinigami clothes were replaced by a long sleeveless white dress.

"Rukia!" both Hitsugaya and Ichigo said.

She looked down at them. Her eyes that were filled with strong emotions were now empty. She looked like an empty shell.

"What do you did to her?!" Ichigo said zangetsu already in hand.

"She was acting a little violent," Aizen said explained, "She was going to hurt herself if she didn't calm down. So I used my zanpakuto on her." He bent down to be eye level with Rukia. One of his hands making its way to her face and cupping her cheek. He could feel the spiritual energy of Hitsugaya and Ichigo increasing. 'Perfect' he thought. "As you can see she is know more docile," he said, bring Rukia's face closer to his. He was about to kiss her!

"**BANKAI**!"

The room shook due to the powerful reitsus that the tenth squad captain and the substitute shinigami were expelling; when their bankai transformation was done they jumped at Aizen. But Gin and Tousen blocked their attacks.

"Move," Hitsugaya ordered Gin.

"My, my, Hitsugaya-taichou. Looks like you are a little bit upset. But don't forget that we still have some problems to solve,_ shiro_-chan," Gin said giving Hitsugaya a wide smile.

"I said move!" Hitsugaya said throwing a huge chunk of ice at Gin. Gin managed to jump out of the way of the ice. Hitsugaya immediately went for Aizen. Gin was about to attack him when he felt the tip of a sword at his neck.

"I'm afraid my captain won't be your opponent this time, but I will,_ Ichimaru,_" Matsumoto said bitterly.

"I will also be your opponent" Kira said pressing the tip of his sword at Gin's back.

"Ran-chan! Kira-kun!" Gin said smiling wildly, "If you guys wanted to play so badly you should have said it earlier." In the blink of an eye he disappeared and reappeared behind Kira. Kira jumped away from Gin's attack. Kira and Matsumoto stood side by side. They looked at each other and nodded.

"Hanieko!" Matsumoto said.

"Wabisuke!" Kira said.

Ichigo was getting frustrated. It didn't matter how many time he attacked Tousen, he couldn't get rid of him. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo said lunching the attack at Tousen. But again Tousen jumped away in the last minute. 'Damn it' Ichigo thought, "Ikkaku, why the heck are you here if you are not going to help!"

"Shut up strawberry! You are not doing a good job yourself!" Ikkaku replied jumping away from one of Tousen attacks. "This asshole dosen't even gives me time to release my zanpakuto!" Ikkaku said.

"Why did you take Rukia?!" Hitsugaya said attacking Aizen. Aizen easily dodged the attack.

"I needed bait," Aizen said throwing an attack of kidou at Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya managed to block the attack by creating a barrier of ice.

"You are probably are thinking why I needed bait. The answer is quite simple," Aizen said blocking Hitsugaya's ice attack with his bare hand. "I want you and Kurasaki-kun. Let me explain myself."

Hitsugaya was flying above Aizen ready to attack. "Both you and Kurosaki-kun are strong, but not strong enough to defeat me. I know what the both of you want most in the world. And that's power. I can give you all the power you need with the help of the Hougyoku. But there is one condition," Aizen said. A long pause stood. Just the faint clashing of swords could be heard.

"You will need to join," Aizen finally said. "If you join me now, I will not harm any of your friends. You just need to decide. Choose wisely."

"No," came the reply.

"Are you sure? Your answer can cause you great pain," Aizen said.

"Don't make myself repeat again. Neither will Kurosaki Ichigo or I will ever join you. In fact I will finish you now!" Hitsugaya said lunching himself at Aizen.

"As you wish," Aizen said before Hyourinmaru pierced him, leaving a trail of ice behind him. "This is the end" Hitsugaya said pushing his zanpakuto deeper into Aizen. "True this is the end but…for you" Aizen said smirking, "You forgot that the ability of my zanpakuto gives me complete hypnosis."

Aizen appeared in front of the now empty throne. "Gin, Tousen, it's time to go," Aizen said opening a portal and going inside. Gin and Tousen following behind. "Oh no, you won't escape!" Ichigo said going after them. But stopped when he heared gasping from everybody.

He turned around and what he saw drained the blood of his face.

The blood was making the once white dress soak in blood tainting it in red. The eyes that were emptied by Aizen were now full of pain. "T-toushiro," she said coughing blood.

Hitsugaya couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't stab Aizen, he stabbed…

"Rukia…" he said.

* * *

_Author's notes-_ I'm so evil BWHAHAHA!!! Anyway I will be a little demanding this time. If you want me to update fast you will need give me a review! Believe me this is not the end...is just the beginning!


	12. The Other and Love

_Disclaimer-_ I don't own bleach

_Author's notes-_ I'm really sorry for making you guys wait so much. School started a few weeks ago. My head was filled with tests, proyects, homework, I was having a major writer's block!!! I finally found time to write this chapter. Thanks so much to every one that gave me a review!!! This chapter is dedicated to Kanasukeh, it was the only person that noticed that Renji didn't appear last chapter TT. I will stop now, before I bore you to death. Please enjoy!!!

* * *

The Other and Love

She was sitting beside his bed. For the past two hours she has been at his side. Her long orange hair was a mess; her black clothes were still covered in blood. A bandage was covering her right arm. But those things didn't matter. Right know her taichou was the only thing that mattered to her.

Every now and then he will stir in his sleep, murmuring words that she couldn't catch, but was sure that it was a name. She looked outside the window. It was raining.

She looked down at her captain. Even sleeping his face still held the same serious expression. She moved towards his face, and moved aside a white band. Her hand returned to her side. She turned to her left and saw her taichou's zanpakutos. It looked just like a normal sword. She couldn't help but remember how the same sword have pierced, the person that they were suppose to save.

* * *

_She couldn't believe her eyes, "oh no." She saw how her captain just stood there, looking only at Rukia. His hands were still holding his sword. Blood was pooling at his feet. _

_Aizen was already gone, but nobody dared to move. Slowly they saw how Rukia's eyes started to shut. Her body fell backwards but before she could the ground Ichigo caught her._

_"Rukia!" Ichigo said shaking her small from, "wake up Rukia!" She opened her eyes a little bit. "Ichi-go" she said between a cough of blood. "Hang on there a little longer; I'm taking you to back to Seireitei" Ichigo said lifting her bridal style. Still on banki form he shunpo-ed towards Seireitei direction. _

_"Renji go with Kurosaki!" Kira ordered him. Renji simply nodded and shunpo-ed in Ichigo's direction. _

_They hear a scream. Matsumoto looked towards her taichou's direction. He was on his knees and hand. She immediately went to his side. She kneeled before him, "taichou?" _

_He was breathing hard, and his whole from was shaking. "I killed her" he kept repeating. She tried to reach for him. "Stay away!" Hitsugaya said. Suddenly she felt pain on her right arm. "Matsumoto!" she hear Kira said. _

_She clenched her arm in pain. Hitsugaya threw his sword, and grabbed his head in pain. "Taichou" Matsumoto said still trying to reach him. But Hitsugaya was moving away from her. "No, no, no, no" he kept saying still grabbing his head._

_Matsumoto saw as Kira lunched a powerful punch at Hitsugaya direction knocking him. Kira knelt before the unconscious captain. "I think he is in shock" Ikkaku said lifting the unconscious captain and throwing him on his shoulder. "I will take him to the fourth division" Ikkaku explained. He also shumpu-ed towards Seireitei. _

_Matsumoto was still in the same position. Her hands clenched into fists. A pale hand appear before her. "Lets go" Kira said. She blinked away the tears that were treating to escape. She nodded and accepted his help to stand up again. _

* * *

So lost in her thought that she didn't notice someone entering the room. She felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. "Matsumoto?" Kira asked bending down to her eyelevel. A little scream escaped her. "Kira you scared me!" she whispered, trying not to wake her captain. 

Kira removed his hand from her shoulder. "Sorry, is just that I have been calling you but you didn't response. Is everything ok?" Kira asked sounding really concerned about her.

"Yes, I'm fine…I was just thinking" Matsumoto said rubbing her injured arm. "Why are you here Kira?" she said breaking the silence.

"General-Yamamoto wants us to report to him. He is expecting a full report about the mission" Kira explained. Again they stayed in silence. "If you want to stay, I can tell-"he tried to say but Matsumoto interrupted him. "Let's go" she said standing and walking to the door.

Kira walked to the door and held it open for her. Before standing completely out of the room, she turned around, and her gaze was directed at her captain.

'Wake-up taichou' she thought before stepping outside, and leaving the white room.

* * *

He waked-up in a familiar place. His green eyes studied the familiar surroundings. Mountains of ice acted as a shield, protecting the snow covered valley that was on the middle. Grey clouds could be seen, waiting for release the snow they held. Yes this was a very familiar place to him. It was where he has found Hyorinmaru. 

He pushed his body up, and managed to stand up, despite how weak his body felt. His captain hatori was gone, leaving him with plain black shinigami clothes. But Hyorinmaru was still strapped to his back.

He could feel something was wrong. Normally when he was here a sense of calm came to him. But this time something was disturbing this frozen paradise.

"Finally you are awake" a voice said.

Hitsugaya looked around trying to find the source of the voice. "Who is there" it was more a command than a question. "You should control your temper better _king_" said the voice. Again Hitsugaya tried to find the owner of the voice but couldn't, a hand already on Hyorinmaru.

"After all that's the reason why _she_ is probably dead" the voice said in a mocking tone.

Hitsugaya could felt how his whole body went cold. "Rukia" he said out loud. Memories of how his own sword pierced threw the body of the person he vowed to save. Blood moving down his sword and pooling at his hands and feet. The worst memory was amethyst eyes filled with pain looking straight at him, trying to tell him something.

"No she can't be dead" Hitsugaya said gripping harder the guard of his sword.

"But how are you so sure? We both know that nobody is lucky enough to survive one attack of Hyorinmaru" the voice said, this time with a sadistic voice. "Who the hell are you?!" Hitsugaya demanded.

"That's easy king" said the voice stepping out from behind a huge block of ice. The wind became colder, and the clouds started freeing snow.

"I'm you" he said.

Hitsugaya couldn't believe his eyes. An exact replica of himself stood in front of him. It looked like him but at the same time no. His clothes were like his but in white; his skin was ghostly pale, and his hair grey. But the most shocking thing was his eyes. They were neon green, surrounded by a pool of blackness.

"Is rude to stare at people" he said breaking the silence. Hitsugaya stood in a fighting stand, "Who are you?" He didn't like how this replica of him felt so much like a hollow.

"I thought we were geniuses but maybe I'm the only genius here" he said in a sarcastic voice, "I'm you."

"Liar" Hitsugaya said lunching at him. His attack was blocked by Hyorinmaru. Hitsugaya jumped away from him. 'Impossible' Hitsugaya thought 'I have Hyorinmaru on my hands.' He looked down at his hands to confirm it.

"Surprised?" he said with a smirk, while putting his sword lazily on his shoulder. "I told you already I'm you. Do you believe me now?"

"No" came Hitsugaya reply.

The other him frowned a little at this. "Stubborn brat" he said. "Don't call me brat" Hitsugaya said. More snow started falling and the wind became stronger. The other looked around amused. "I told you to control your temper. This exactly why our toy is dead" he said. He a cruel smile formed on his face when he saw how Hitsugaya gripped harder his zanpakutos. "Because you can't control your temper we don't have a toy anymore" he said acting as if he was sad.

"Rukia is not a toy" Hitsugaya said icily. The other started moving around him. "How are you so sure? Remember you were aiming to kill. We both saw how her eyes start shutting down and her body fell, on the arms of that stupid shinigami wannabe, lifeless. Don't try to fool yourself, we _killed_ Rukia" he said smiling like a maniac.

Hitsugaya couldn't stand it anymore. "She is not dead!" he said lunching again at him.

Effortlessly the other blocked Hitsugaya attack, and grabbed him by the neck, suspending him in the air. "Here me well _king_" he said with all traces of playfulness gone, "She is dead. _We_ killed her." With each word he said, he gripped harder Hitsugaya's neck.

Hitsugaya tried to free himself but couldn't. "You can't escape king. You have been in power for to long, is time for to go out and play. Who knows maybe I can't find us another to play. I have in mind our vice-captain. How does that sound?"

"Don't you dare harm her" Hitsugaya chocked. The other smirked. "You are not in position to order me. You are stating to bore me king. I will let you go for now, I will give you an advice. If you don't want me to consume you, you will need to find a way to become stronger" he said in a dark voice. They held each other gaze, trying to intimidate the other.

"Until next time king" he said with a cruel smile. He threw Hitsugaya to the ground, making a whole in which Hitsugaya fell.

Hitsugaya fell on water. He keep sinking and sinking. His eyes started closing. 'She is not dead' he thought finally closing his eyes.

* * *

He waked up gasping for air. When he calmed down he noticed that he was alone in a white room. 'I'm probably in the fourth division' he thought. He moved his hands towards his neck. He massaged his neck tried to ease the pain. 

He thought about with his encounter with his other self. Could it be really him? 'No' he thought 'he is a monster.' He shack his head trying to get rid of those thought. He looked at the window. It was raining. "Rukia" he said. Awful things happened when it rained.

He jumped off the bed, glad that he still was on his uniform and not on a uncomfortable yukata. He saw Hyorinmaru laying on a wall. He went to him, and strapped him to his back.

He stood in the middle of the room with his eyes closed. 'Concentrate' he thought. He knew Rukia couldn't be dead. She was stronger than what people thought. "Please" he said. He could feel the spirit energy of Ichigo, Matsumoto, Renji, and Kira and of more people, but couldn't find hers. "Please" he pleaded again to no one. 'She is not dead' he kept repeating in his mind. 'You are strong Rukia, I know you are alive.' Suddenly he detected very weak spirit energy. "Thanks" he said to no one in particular.

* * *

She wasn't farm from where his room was. He walked threw a long hallway eager to see her again. He was careful to hide his spirit energy. He wanted to be alone with her. Reaching the end of the hallway he found her room. He was bout to open the door but he heard a familiar voice. 

"I'm glad you are awake Rukia" men say from inside the room. 'Kurosaki' Hitsugaya thought. He opened the door silently just enough to watch what was going inside the room. "How do you feel?" Ichigo asked moving to sit beside Rukia at her bed.

"I'm feeling good" Rukia said moving closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. He rapped an arm on her smaller from. "I was afraid I was going to lose you" he confessed bringing her even closer to him. She snuggled to his chest "I was also afraid."

"I was jealous about Toshiro, I thought he was taking you away from me" Ichigo said. "You don't have to be jealous. He was only a distraction until you came. You know very well I only _love_ you" Rukia said bringing Ichigo's face closer to hers. Ichigo closed his eyes and leaned his head towards her.

He didn't want to see or hear anymore. "So that's how it is" Hitsugaya said making his hands into fists, almost drawing blood. He turned around and shunpu-ed outside, where it was still raining.

* * *

Please Read & Review 


	13. Question

_Disclaimer-_ Bleach is not mine TT

_Author's notes-_ Thanx to all the people that reviewed last chapter

* * *

Question

He hated this; he hated every minute of it. He watched the rain from his seat beside her bed. God, he hated rain. A sigh escaped his lips. His eyes traveled down to the woman that lay on the bed.

He stared quietly at her, studying her face because he knew that once she woke up he wouldn't be able to stare at her freely. Her midnight hair was spread all over the pillow. Her pink lips were now ghostly white, and her closed eyelids were hiding her purple-blue eyes. He frowned at this.

He wanted to see her hair combed in her usual style, with that annoying bang in the middle of her face. He wanted her lips to be rosy pink again. And most of all he wanted to see her eyes. Those eyes that held so many emotions; those eyes that made his heart race faster every time they were on him; those eyes that showed that she was alive.

But now she looked so lifeless. His hands balled into fists. It was his fault. Nothing of this would have happened if she had returned with him. But what could he do? He couldn't force her to go with him. It wouldn't have been fair for her. His eyes drifted to the floor. "Damn it, Rukia, wake up!" Ichigo said out loud.

"I'm awake," Rukia said.

Ichigo lifted his eyes and met her gaze. They just stayed there, looking at each other, until Ichigo jumped to the other side of the room. "When the hell did you wake up?!" Ichigo said pointing at her from the other side of the room.

She rolled her eyes at his childish behavior. "A few minutes ago. I just didn't want to open my eyes," Rukia said while seating herself on the bed. Ichigo walked to stand beside the bed.

She looked at the window, and frowned a little when she saw that it was raining. "Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked. He kept quiet waiting for her answer. But she kept quiet. Ichigo frowned at this. She kept looking at the rain. Ichigo understood. "I will go find Renji to tell him you are awake."

He walked to the door, but stopped moving when Rukia called him. He turned around and waited for Rukia to continue. "Thanks," she said giving him a soft smile. He looked away and scratched the back of his neck. "You should rest," Ichigo said stepping outside of the room.

She waited until she couldn't feel Ichigo spiritual energy anywhere in the fourth squad building. Now completely alone she could think. She couldn't help but feel worried, and anxious. She needed to find Hitsugaya. Rukia was more than sure that he would blame this on himself.

She was still too weak to try to find him by his spiritual energy. She would have to search for him room to room. She jumped off her bed but her knees gave way under her. "Damn it!" she cursed under her breath. She managed to stand again and moved towards the door.

She was so weak that she failed to notice two very familiar spiritual energies.

"Your zanpakuto is really handy," Gin said, amused. "Yes it is," said Aizen smiling, "Now let us prepare the next scene. Kyōka Suigetsu," Aizen said making a replica of Ichigo and Rukia appear. "Now we just need to wait," Aizen said smirking.

* * *

'Where could he be?' Rukia thought leaning against a wall. She had been looking for Hitsugaya all over the fourth squad building, but couldn't find him. She was very tired, but didn't want to rest. She wanted to see him, and tell him that she didn't blame him. She was now leaning against a wall outside. 'He must be in his office,' she thought.

Rukia watched as the rain still poured over Seireitei. 'It is going to be a long walk,' she thought. She pushed herself off the wall and started making her way to the tenth squad office.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Matsumoto said, standing in front of Rukia, with an umbrella in her hand. 'Damn.' "Well you see…I wanted a little breath of fresh air," Rukia said trying to sound casual. Matsumoto looked at her with I-don't-believe-that-not-even-for-a-moment-you-are-such-a-bad-lier look.

"Ichigo will be really pissed if he knows that you are walking outside in the rain," Matsumoto said with a hand on her hip. "But he doesn't have to now," Rukia said looking at Matsumoto with huge puppy eyes.

But before Matsumoto could reply to her something really fast passed their side.

"Was that my taichou?" Matsumoto asked looking at the direction he went. "Yes," Rukia said also looking at his direction. They both looked at each other and nodded, and ran in his direction.

* * *

The rain was merciless to who ever dared to be outside. Thunder could also be heard, and mist was starting to form. The rain drops were freezing cold. But in the middle of a clearing stood someone. His white hair was sticking to his face. His clothes were soaking wet. His zanpakuto was in his hands. All around him the trees were cut; some were even made of ice. Almost everything was destroyed.

He didn't care. _"He is only a distraction." _His grip on his sword tightened. "_I only love you_." With out thinking he threw a blast of ice into a tree, destroying it completely.

"Didn't I tell you to control your temper, king?" the other one said from inside his head. "Shut up," Hitsugaya replied. He looked up at the sky, as if trying to find something. "Aw, I see you are in a bad mood," the other said in a mocking tone, "Do you want a hug?"

This time Hitsugaya stayed silent. "Are you still mad at what that slut said?" the other said, faking concern. "You are so weak. Face the fact that she never loved you; she was only using you. How could she love someone like you? You are pathetic. Even that shinigami wannabe beat you," the other said. Again Hitsugaya stayed silent.

"You are not fun if you stay silent, king," the other said, annoyed, suddenly he smirked. "You know what I think?" He didn't wait for Hitsugaya to reply. "Maybe she felt disgusted at your weakness. Yeah that's it! She was disgusted by you. It wouldn't surprise me. After all even that stupid Strawberry is stronger than you.

"What is his name? Oh yes! Kurosaki Ichigo. That brat managed to beat a bunch of vice-captains, and even two captains, but you couldn't even beat that freak Gin, and you almost got killed by that bastard Aizen," the other said.

"SHUT UP!" Hitsugaya screamed. He released his spirit power, making the land below him break away, creating a crater. He fell to his knees breathing hard. The rain was still falling from the sky, this time harder. He suddenly felt a familiar spiritual energy. "Who is there?" Hitsugaya said.

"Even in that state you can sense my spiritual energy," Aizen said in an amused tone. He stepped from behind a tree. They stayed watching at each other, neither of them moving. Finally Aizen broke the silence. "Am I wrong to assume that you are in this sate because of Rukia-chan?" Aizen said almost sounding concerned.

"What do you want?" Hitsugaya said, avoiding the question. "So I'm correct," Aizen replied, "And this also has to do with Kurosaki-kun." Hitsugaya glared at him. He stood and was ready to go. "Don't you want power?" Aizen said. "My offer is still on. I can give you all the power you want. Even to defeat Kurosaki Ichigo," Aizen said, "What do you say?"

* * *

Rukia stopped; she was breathing hard. The wound on her abdomen was starting to open. "Are you ok?" Matsumoto asked. "Yes," Rukia said in between breaths, "What are you doing?" Matsumoto was kneeling in front of her, turning her back to Rukia. "You are in no condition to run," Matsumoto said, "Hurry and climb on."

Rukia nodded and climbed on her back. Matsumoto started running again towards Hitsugaya. Rukia was having a bad feeling. She was sure that something bad was going to happen. Suddenly they felt how the spiritual energy of Hitsugaya increased suddenly. "Matsumoto, can you go faster?" Rukia said in a worried voice.

"Yes," said Matsumoto shunpo-ing towards Hitsugaya.

Rukia just hoped that she would be wrong. 'Please don't do anything stupid,' she thought. Things always got bad when it rained.

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Please Read & Review 


	14. Resolution

Disclaimer- Bleach is not mine

Author's notes- Sorry people for taking so long to update, but SCHOOL IS CONSUMING MY LIFE!!!! and also my beta reader (wich btw is my bff) moved to Costa Rica TT Also I want to thank all the people that reviewed, I aslo received my first flame for this story, wich in a really twisted way I'm happy for it Thanx to Black Belt for saying that this story didn't suck!!!

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Resolution

She was drenched; there was no part of her that wasn't wet. One of her hands was pressed against her abdomen. Her knees buckled under her weight, and she fell to the ground, leaning against the door.

Rain was still pouring outside.

She looked down at her hand. She lifted her hand revealing the wounds that was staining her white yukata red. She took a deep breath, and concentrated what reiatsu she had left to try and heal her wound.

When she was done, the wound was barely closed. She punched the floor. "Damn it," Rukia said out loud. She couldn't even close a wound without losing her breath. She brought her legs closer to her. Why was she always so weak?

_"You are always depending on the pity of others."_

_His_ voice was still fresh in her minds. She hugged her legs closer.

_"You are worthless."_

Her bangs covered her eyes.

_"I don't know why I fell for you."_

Her whole body was trembling, trying to hold in the sobs that were trying to escape.

_"Your weakness is disgusting."_

A single tear rolled down her pale check.

_"Pathetic."_

She wiped the tear away with the hand that was holding her wound, the tear and blood mixing together. He was right. She couldn't do anything on her own.

The only reason she survived the streets of Rukongai was because Renji was always there to protect her. She only managed to pass the shinigami academy, because Byakuya moved the right strings. In her division it was the same. Kaien was always making sure she was safe from harm. And how had he died? Killed by her own sword.

On her first mission to the human world, she ended up losing her power, and depending on a young human boy to protect her. How much lower could she get? 'Ichigo shouldn't have saved me,' Rukia thought.

Three weeks had passed since Aizen's betrayal, and she still didn't have all her powers restored. Aizen had kidnapped her, but she couldn't remember how he did it. Again she was saved by others. She clenched her fist harder. Her nails were leaving a mark.

She was tired of this. She hated being the princess, waiting to be saved. For once she wanted to be the knight in shining armor. But how would she be able to save anybody, if she couldn't even save herself?

Not anymore. She was going to safe herself. No more Ichigo or Renji saving her ass. She would become stronger. She was going to obtain the strength to save others. She was going to prove not only to them, but to _him_ that she wasn't worthless.

She lifted her eyes to stare through the window. The rain was still strong, but she would not be defeated by the rain. She was not going to conquer the rain, but to become the rain. Even if it killed her, she was going to become the rain.

She would prove to_ him_ that she was not weak.

* * *

Please Read & Review 


	15. Want Tea?

_Disclaimer-_ I don't own Bleach

_Author Note's-_ The guilt was to much! Please forgive me for taking so long to update, I will try my hardest to update as much as I can! I wrote this on monday, but couldn't post it until today because my beta-reader (Linds I miss you TT) didn't send it to me until today. My life have been CHAOTIC! I spend Christmas eve on the hospital due to an asma attack so i couldn't do anything fun for a whole week, school started this week and my EVIL math teacher decided to make my life misery by giving me more homework and this past Tuesday my cat died. So yeah I have been bussy XD

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Want Tea?

All eyes were glued to the two shinigami; one was orange-haired and the other was very small and petit. They were kneeling in front of the ancient captain of the Gotei 13. Neither of the women looked up to face the old captain. "Kurosaki Ichigo has returned to his world?" the old captain asked the petit shinigami.

"Yes, Yamamoto-genryūsai" the petit woman said, still not daring to look up. "Does he know about Hitsugaya Toushiro's betrayal?" Yamamoto asked, this time with more edge in his voice. "Kurosaki Ichigo has no knowledge of Hitsugaya Toushiro's betrayal to Seireitei," the raven haired girl said, clenching her hands into fists.

He didn't say anything immediately. "Matsumoto-fukataichou and Kuchiki-fukataichou, I'm sure that you know why you have been called here. You are the only ones that were present when the ex-captain of the 10th squad left Seireitei with Aizen Sosuke. Therefore I want to hear exactly what happened" he said not caring to hide the irritation on his voice.

From the corner of her eye Matsumoto could see that Rukia wouldn't be the one to start the talking; she would need to be the one to start. "Kuchiki-fukataichou and I were outside the fourth squad building when someone passed beside us using kidou. We immediately recognized the rei**a**tsu of Hitsugaya Toushiro. Since his reitsu was acting strange we decided to follow him.

When we managed to spot him, he was already talking to Aizen Sosuke. We were about to go back and alert all the squads that Aizen Sosuke was in Seireitei when he spotted us. They used their reitsu to pin us to the ground. Neither of them said anything, they simply opened a portal to Hueco Mundo and left," Matsumoto said.

"That doesn't explain why Kuchiki-fukataichou was wounded," Yamamoto said not entirely believing what Matsumoto said. "That is-" Matsumoto tried to say but Rukia cut her. "That wound was made by Hitsugaya Toushiro during the time I was kidnapped. The pressure of both traitors re-opened the wound," Rukia said in a hollow voice.

"You are entirely sure that Aizen Sosuke didn't say anything about why he was here. His zanpakuto may have hypnotized you," Yamamoto said, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"That is impossible, Yamamoto-genryūsai" Rukia said making the old captain glare at her. "Don't be fool child nobody escapes Kyōka Suigetsu's hypnotic power; not even I," he said with anger in his voice. "Do you think a toddler like you could fool Aizen's zanpakuto?"

"Of course not, Yamamoto-genryūsai, but Aizen's zanpakutos ability only works if you have witness his shikai, and I haven't," Rukia said this time looking up at the old captain. "I wasn't present during the time he showed all the squads his shikai. During that time I was leaving with Kurosaki Ichigo."

He stayed silent just watching her. "I see so you are part of the few that are free from Kyōka Suigetsu power" he said while studying her. He then turned his gaze to the captains. "Captains of the Gotei 13 as you have heard, Hitsugaya Toushiro's betrayal has been confirmed. He is not longer a comrade but the enemy. Go to your former squads and inform them about this. You are dismissed," he said while tapping the floor with his cane.

Slowly the room emptied, leaving only the two vice-captains still kneeling on the floor. Once they were alone they stood up and walked towards the doors. "Matsumoto-san," Rukia called before going outside the room. "Yes?" Matsumoto said waiting for the other woman. "Thanks for not saying what _he _said to me," Rukia said giving her a deep bow.

"You don't have to thank me," Matsumoto said giving the younger woman a warm smile. Rukia only nodded. Matsumoto looked down at Rukia like wanting to ask her something, but decided against it. "Take care," Matsumoto said instead and left the room.

As Rukia exited the room, she heard somebody calling her. "Taichou?" Rukia said while approaching him. "Um, taichou, shouldn't you be informing the squad about the meeting?" Rukia said as she stood in front of her captain.

"Bad news can wait," Ukitake said waving a hand in front of him. He bent down to her eye level, and gave her a big smile. "Rukia-chan, would you like to go drink tea with me?"

* * *

They were sitting in his special room for tea. Rukia have been there a couple of times, so it wasn't new for her. They waited in silence for the tea to come. The doors that lead to the garden were open, giving the opportunity to see the beautiful garden. A soft breeze was keeping the room fresh. For the first time in two days, Rukia was relaxed. 

She lifted her gaze from the pond when some random shinigami brought the tea. They both said thanks, and waited for the shinigami to leave before drinking their tea. Rukia waited until her captain finished his tea before asking, "Taichou, thank you for inviting me for tea, but why did you bring me here?"

"Straight to the point as always, Rukia-chan," Ukitake said. He couldn't help smiling at her. "I was really surprised when you said that Aizen's zanpakuto doesn't affect you. But when you were kidnapped reports said that you were in some sort of trance; how can his zanpakuto not have an effect on you?" he asked really concerned.

"When I was kidnapped," Rukia said disgust clearly evident on her voice, "Aizen thought that is wasn't worth the effort to use his zanpakuto on me, so instead they drugged me." Her eyes were cast down. 'I'm not even worth hypnotizing' she thought grimly. She felt somebody squeezing her shoulder. "Taichou," Rukia said looking up at her captain. 'When did he move?'

"I know what you are thinking Rukia," Ukitake said dropping the suffix; Rukia couldn't help but flinch a little at how serious he sounded. "Don't think so lowly of yourself. You have accomplished many things; you are now my vice-captain" he said giving her another squeeze on the shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"At my current level I don't think I will be worthy of being a vice-captain," Rukia said, not meeting his gaze, "I don't have enough power."

"Power is not easy to achieve," Ukitake said, looking down at defeated woman next to him. 'I know,' she thought still not wanting to face her captain. "Very well; I will help you achieve power," Ukitake said. "You will train me?" Rukia asked, not believing her ears.

"Me?" Ukitake said pointing at his face with his free hand, "Of course not. I can help you train if you want, but the type of power you are looking for I can't give to you." He couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the confused expression she gave him. 'Rukia-chan, sometimes you are too cute,' he thought. "Don't worry, Rukia-chan, I know the perfect person to help you," Ukitake said with a wide grin. "Who is this person?" Rukia asked now really curious of who could this person be.

"Zaraki Kenpachi," Ukitake simply said.

* * *

_Author Note's-_ I couldn't help myself to put a little bit of UkitakexRukia XD!!!! I love crack pairings but don't worry the main pairing is HITSUxRUKI! Before i forget Happy-late-Christmas and Happy-late-New Year! Please don't forget to review XP!!!! 


	16. Challenging the Weak Part I

_Disclaimer-_ I don't own bleach.

_Author's Notes-_ Hi ppl!!! thanx for all the reviews XD!!! I'm so happy because this year I actually have a birthday To make it short my birthday is the 29th of Febuary, and that is every four years so this year I'm turning 4!!!!! Now enjoy D

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Challenging the Weak Part I

Her eyes kept wandering towards the entrance of the dojo. 'Was this really a good idea?' she kept asking herself. Her hands were opening and closing, and she was biting her lips, almost drawing blood. She was about to fight with one of the most blood thirsty captains in the whole Gotei 13 history. She wasn't only scared of fighting the eleventh squad captain; she was even more nervousness than anything. 'Ukitake-taichou said that I have only one opportunity to demonstrate that I'm strong enough to be trained by Zaraki-taichou,' Rukia thought.

She couldn't help but sigh. She was so dead. 'He wants to fight me! How am I supposed to prove to myself if he is going to kill me before I even have time to take out my zanpakuto!' Rukia thought grimly. 'I need to calm down; making myself more nervous won't help. I need a plan.' She folded her arms in front of her and closed her eyes. She tapped her feet in exasperation. 'Think, damn it, think!'

"Argh!" Rukia screamed while grabbing her head, "It's no use! The only thing I'm good at is kidou and that won't even tickle him! I'm so screwed!"

She let her arms fall limply to her sides. "I'm really weak," Rukia said with a bitter smile forming on her face. "But that is going to change," a soft voice full of arrogance said. Rukia looked down at her zanpakuto. "Shirayuki?" Rukia said. It wasn't that often that her zanpakuto talked to her. Rukia knew that her zanpakuto was really arrogant and prideful.

"Shirayuki, it's been a while," Rukia said. She waited for the zanpakuto to reply but only silence was heard. 'Great; my own zanpakuto is ignoring me. Is it to much to ask for a little of respect?' Rukia thought glaring at her zanpakuto.

Again she sighed. 'I still don't have a plan.' Her eyes fell on the entrance of the dojo. She could hear people coming.

The doors of the dojo opened revealing the eleventh and the thirteenth captains. Behind them a couple of low ranked shinigami stood, with some others she recognized. 'It's time to act,' she thought putting her stoic mask on.

"Sorry for coming late; we get a little lost," Ukitake said, sweat dropping.

"I'm starting to doubt your sense of direction, Yachiru," Zaraki Kenpachi said in a really annoyed voice.

"My sense of direction is perfect! You are being mean, Ken-chan!" Yachiru said while biting Ikkaku's head. "Get off me!" Ikkaku screamed at the pink-haired fukataichou. He tried to grab her but she jumped away from him and landed on Zaraki's shoulder.

"Why the hell are we even here? This has nothing to do with us." Ikkaku said while rubbing the spot on his head where Yachiru had bitten him. "Because we need to decide if Rukia-san's fighting style is beautiful enough to be trained by us," Yumichika said with one hand under his chin and the other around his abdomen.

The other men in the room only stared at him. "Right…" Zaraki said turning his stare to Rukia.

Rukia tried not to fidget under his stare. Even if he was controlling his reitsu, just his mere presence was making it difficult for Rukia to maintain her composure.

"So you are that arrogant prick sister," he said looking down at her. She couldn't keep the sweat from dropping; it was the first time she heard someone refer like that to her brother.

"Yes, Rukia-chan is Kuchiki-taichou's little sister. She is now the fukataichou of my squad." Ukitake said standing between them. Rukia bowed deeply to him, "Kuchiki Rukia. It will be an honor to be trained by you, Zaraki Kenpachi-taichou."

She almost fell on her butt when she heard Zaraki's laugh.

"It looks like all the Kuchikis act as if they have a stick stuck up their ass!" Zaraki said after he finished laughing. "Look, kid; drop the act. Acting like that won't get you anywhere in this squad. Acting all respectful and stuck up is the way a weakling acts. And I hate weaklings."

Rukia didn't know what to say. All her life the elders at the Kuchiki manor had told her to act respectful to the higher ranked officials, and now this man was telling her to 'drop the act.' Again she couldn't help but wonder if this was really a good idea.

"Oi! Ukitake, what is she good at?" Zaraki asked the white-haired taichou. "Kidou," Ukitake simply said, not liking how Zaraki was treating Rukia.

Zaraki simply turned around and started walking towards the exit. "She needs more training before I train her. If she is only good at kidou she is a weakling. I won't waste my time on someone like her," Zaraki said, opening the door of the dojo, but stopping when he felt the other captain's reiatsu pressure.

"Zaraki-taichou, I really think you should at least see how she fights," Ukitake said, all traces of the happy taichou gone, now replaced by a serious Ukitake. "Taichou?" Rukia said looking at her captain. She was struggling to not fall onto the ground because of the huge reiatsu pressure. It was the first time she has looked at him like this, and she didn't like it.

"Oh really? Would you try to make me train her?" Zaraki said, already anticipating a fight with Ukitake. He also let his reiatsu free.

"If I have to," Ukitake said, narrowing his eyes. Both men started pulling out their zanpakutos. Suddenly a third reiatsu joined the other two powerful reiatsus.

"Zaraki- taichou, Ukitake-taichou, Yamamoto-soutaichou sent me to ask why you two are about to fight." Unohona said stepping inside the dojo. Zaraki was the first to break eye contact. "Oh man, don't tell me that old geezer sent you to ruin my fun," Zaraki whined.

"Of course, Zaraki-taichou," Unohona said with a smile. "Would you please tell me the reason you want to fight Ukitake-taichou?" The three captains contained their reiatsus so not to crush the other shinigamis that were in the dojo.

"He wants me to train her," Zaraki said, pointing at Rukia.

Rukia was on all four. The pressure of the three captains combined was too much for her. She was breathing hard and sweat was covering her whole body. 'Is this the real strength of a captain?' Rukia thought, still gasping for air. 'So during our training_ he_ was holding back.' She bit her lips trying not to curse out loud, this time drawing blood.

She tensed when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't strain yourself, Rukia-san; it has been only two days since you left the fourth squad infirmary." Unohona sounded like a mother scolding her reckless child. "Let me heal that lip."

"Thanks," Rukia said after her lip was heal, looking at the ground. Of all the people in the dojo she was the only one that needed help. 'Damn it.'

Unohona watched as Rukia avoided her gaze. "Zaraki-taichou, I agree with Ukitake-taichou," Unohona said, "I think you should train her." Rukia stared at the older woman. Did she hear correct? Unohona-taichou also thought that she should be trained by Zaraki.

"Rukia-san is really strong. I'm sure if you give her the opportunity you will change your mind about training her. You can make her spar with someone of your squad and see if she is worth of your time" Unohona said walking to stand besides Ukitake.

"Zaraki-taichou, even Unohona-san agrees with me. You should give Rukia-chan an opportunity," Ukitake said, this time back to his usual self.

"Tch," Zaraki said crossing his arms in front of him, and looking away. "Taichou, you should give her the opportunity to try," Yumichika said. "Fine! Then you fight with her," said Zaraki, already annoyed that he couldn't fight a strong opponent and that everybody was on Rukia's side.

"Me?" Yumichika said. "But I have just cleaned my uniform; I don't want to make it dirty!"

"You will do as I say!" Zaraki roared loosing the little patience he had left. "Yes, taichou!" Yumichika said, walking towards the center of the dojo, and taking out his zanpakuto.

"Go," Ukitake said to Rukia. She nodded and walked to the center of the dojo. "She better be good," Zaraki said, glaring at the two captains. "She is," Ukitake responded.

"Rukia-san, I'm sorry, but I won't be holding back," said Yumichika. "Neither will I," Rukia said. She was going to show that bastard of Kenpachi that she was not a weakling.

"Bloom, Fuji Kujaku!"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"

Their swords clashed. "Your zanpakuto is so beautiful!" Yumichika squealed in delight. "Too bad it's going to lose. But don't worry; I will make your loss beautiful."

Rukia jumped away from him but before she touched the ground she felt his presence behind her. He almost stabbed her on the back, but she was able to block it. He used shunpo and disappeared from her view. 'Where is he?'

She tried to sense his reitsu but he was hiding it. She wasn't able to see in time as he appeared in front of her and slashed her chest, sending her flying to the other side of the room.

She used her zanpakuto to stand up. "I told you I wouldn't be holding back," Yumichika said, running towards her, ready to strike her again. "And I told you neither would I," Rukia said also charging towards him.

Before their swords clashed again, she disappeared and reappeared on top of him. "Some no mai, tsukishiro!" Rukia said.

Yumichika only had to evade Rukia's sword, but his left arm got trapped on the circle of ice. "My arm!" Yumichika cried. He tried to pull it out of the large tower of ice, but Rukia wasn't done with him.

With one strong punch, Yumichika was out cold.

She stood in front of the unconscious Yumichika and breathed hard. 'Lucky for you I was actually holding back,' Rukia thought with a smirk. 'So I actually improved after my training with _him,_'

"So, Zaraki-taichou; is she good enough?" Ukitake said smiling.

"Ikkaku! Wake up that fruity," Zaraki said, turning around and stepping out, "Ukitake, make sure she is here early tomorrow."

Yachiru jumped off Zaraki's shoulder and walked towards Rukia. "Where the hell are you going Yachiru" Zaraki asked sounding really irritated. He wasn't in the mood for Yachiru's games.

"I want to ask midget-chan something" Yachiru said sounding really serious. Rukia's eyes twitched a little at the nickname the young girl gave her.

Rukia eyed the pink haired girl suspiciously; it was weird for her to act so serious. "Midget-chan, you control ice, right?" Yachiru asked very seriously. "Yes…" Rukia said, not liking the way the girl was acting.

"Yay!" Yachiru said, "Then you can make me an ice-cream!"

Rukia fell on her butt. "Err… I don't think I can," she said taken aback by the sudden question. "Aw! Come on, midget-chan! Whitey-chan never wanted to make me an ice-cream," Yachiru said, kicking an invisible rock.

'Whitey-chan?' Rukia thought, and then it hit her. She gave Yachiru a bitter smile. Noticing her suddenly change of mood, Unohona called Yachiru. "Yachiru, if you come with me I will give you candy."

"Really?!" Yachiru then ran toward Unohona and grabbed her hand. "Let's go!" They both left the room, followed by a very grumpy Zaraki.

When Ikkaku managed to wake up Yumichika and pull him out of the ice tower, with the help of Rukia, the sun was already setting. "Sorry about your arm, Yumichika-san," Rukia said, bowing. "Don't worry; I will be able to feel my arm any time," Yumichika said while rubbing his numb arm.

Rukia watched as Ikkaku and Yumichika make their way out of the dojo. She was happy that the strike Yumichika gave only ripped her uniform. She really didn't want to go back to the fourth division so soon.

"You did really well," Ukitake said, standing by her side. "Thanks, Taichou," Rukia responded, bowing to him.

"I would have to agree with Zaraki-taichou in one thing," Ukitake said, "You should really stop acting like a perfect imitation of Byakuya. You have your own personality and you have to let it show. You are more than a Kuchiki you are Rukia."

"I know," said Rukia, not looking at him. 'Zaraki-taichou and you aren't the only

people that have told me this.' "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. How about I invite you to tea?" Ukitake said, smiling down at her.

* * *

_Author's Notes-_ I really suck at writin fighting scenes TT

Please Reade & Review


	17. Challenging the Weak Part II

_Author's Notes:_ Its been a long time since I updated anything. Sorry about that but, life insist in keeping me away from the fanfic world. My beta reader can't edit my stories anymore so this chapter is RAW. If anybody would be nice enough to correct my horrible spelling and grammar I will really apreaciate it! Also I will like to dedicate this update to my poor Santai- Kimihaine it must really suck to have me as your taichou T^T

_Disclaimer:_ I'm just playing with someone else toys.

Please enjoy!

* * *

Challenging the Weak Part II

With a frustrated groan she threw the pen to the other side of the room. Her hands rubbed her temples, trying to ease the headache that refused to leave. For once she has been trying to do paperwork, 'trying' been the keyword. Her grey eyes glared down at the messy stack of papers that lay in front of her. Her third seat had offered doing the paperwork instead, but she had refused.

Like the third, fifth, and eighth squad the tenth squad was captain less. As the vice-captain it was her responsibility to fulfill the captain place, but so far her work leaved a lot to desire.

She looked at the pink sofa were she loved to nap. She was tempted to go to her pink sofa and sleep. She was so tire but, couldn't sleep. A small frown settled on her pretty face. For the past nights nightmares have plagued her mind. She refused to close her eyes for more than a couple of seconds, afraid to see unusual bright green eyes hunting her.

Why had he had to leave?

She looked at the small clock that was on the desk. It marked pass eleven, and she wasn't even close to finish. "At least it will keep me awake" she murmured to herself. A hand went to her hair trying to untangle the many knots that had settle on her once glossy hair.

She opened one of the many cabinets of the desk and searched for another pen. Her hand found a pen at the back of the cabinet. It wasn't until the pen was on top of the stack of papers ready to be sign that she recognized it. The pen wasn't exactly what you will imagine the old owner of the desk to use. It was a green pen with a rather cute silver dragon on it.

The pen had been a birth day gift from her to the white haired ex-captain. She had told him that if he was so obsessed to do paperwork, even on his birthday, that at least his pen could be a little bit more fun to use. He of course had refused to use such a kiddy looking pen. He had also yelled that he wouldn't be stock doing paperwork on his birth day if she for once did her share of the work.

She put the pen where she had found it and closed the cabinet with a loud thud.

Why did she have to find that pen? It had only helped her remember how foolish she was to fall in love with some one that will never return her feelings. She rubbed her temples harder, trying to stop the images that were coming.

He had told her not to follow him, yet she did.

She hadn't care if it was raining, she had still followed him. She wanted to know who was melting her captain's heart.

Never had she saw him act so tenderly towards someone, not even to Hinamori. He had acted so out of character, that she had thought that maybe it was another person. Only when he had started talking she admitted that indeed it was him. He had talked with so much passion that it had ashamed her to eardrop.

'No, no, no, no…' her heart kept saying not wanting to remember 'that' particularly memory.

The two ice wielders kissed.

It broke her.

Then Aizen kidnapped the Kuchiki princess and he had completely forgotten her. She could see in his eyes that he wouldn't rest until he had her securely in his harms. There was no room for her anymore. What little space she had had in his heart it was erased by the presence of the raven haired girl.

Jealousy had taken control. She had started wishing that they failed in rescuing Rukia.

It frightened her to think that way.

She had felt relieved when her wishes didn't come true.

They have saved Rukia.

Seeing that Ichigo was there brought her hope. 'Ichigo will distract Rukia and I can spend some time with taichou.' That had been her plan, and it disgusted her to think that way.

But he had betrayed Seireitei.

She had pleaded him to stay, to no leave her. He ignored her. Even then, when she was right in front of her, he had only eyes for the raven haired shinigami. He had truly forgotten her. With out looking back he left.

By now the papers that she was suppose to sign where ruined by her tears. She was really pathetic. "Matsumoto?" She looked up and saw Kira standing in front of her, looking at her with worried eyes. "I knocked but you didn't answer, so I let myself in," he explained "are you ok?"

"Why are you here?" Matsumoto asked ignoring his question. She winced at how cracked her voice sounded. She rubbed her eyes with the balls of her hands, they hurt. "Are you feeling well? You look really sick" Kira said also ignoring her question. He moved to her side, feeling her forehand with his other hand. "You have a little bit of fever."

"Don't worry I'm fine, is just that I haven't sleep much" she said moving his hand away from her forehead. "And why is that?" he asked concerned. "I have to do paperwork," Matsumoto lied. It wasn't that she didn't trust Kira; it was just that she preferred not to bring others to worry about her. The nightmares will go away…eventually… she hoped.

"You look really sick, go to sleep I will finish the paperwork." Kira said. He pulled her out of the chair and guided her towards her usual napping spot, the pink sofa. "Wait, I can't let you do that, that's my job" she said trying to move away from the pink sofa, "and what about you? Don't you have your own squad to worry about?"

"I'm already used to do a lot of paperwork and my squad can manage alone for a little bit. Besides even if you stay all night long I don't think you will be able to finish it. At least not in the state you are" he said while making her seat on the pink sofa. "Now go to sleep."

"I can't" she protested.

"I told you I can finish the -"

"Is not that" Matsumoto said looking at her feet.

"Then what is it?" Kira asked frowning at the estrange behavior of the busty blonde.

"Nightmares" she said still not wanting to meet his worry gaze.

"About?" he asked not liking the way she was acting.

Silence

He frowned more at her lack of respond. Since the betrayal of Hitsugaya she had been anything like herself. He was really worried. Kira knew how closed she was to her captain, and knew exactly what she was feeling.

His captain had only used him. He fought her because his captain had ordered him. He hadn't questioned the fox faced ex-captain. She of course punched some sense on his thick head.

Matsumoto didn't hate him for attacking her. She helped him recover from his captain betrayal. He was really thankful with her, even if her methods of recovery mean to have a huge hangover the next day.

He will not leave her alone.

"Just go to sleep. If I sense that you are having a nightmare I will wake you up" he said pushing her so that laid on her back. He made his way towards the desk ready to do paperwork.

"Fine" Matsumoto said drowsiness evident on her voice. She snuggled closer to the sofa. She was still a really reluctant to close her eyes, still afraid of bright green ayes hunting her. "Thanks" she said after a while, she feel better knowing that someone was looking out for her. He smiled at her from his place at the desk, "Goodnight."

She didn't hear him, she was asleep.

* * *

She laid awake on her futon, sleep refused to come. Her mind was still playing today's events. She turned to her side, snuggling closer to her pillow. Was it really a good idea to be trained by Zaraki Kenpachi?

With a sigh Rukia gave up sleep, it will be another sleepless night. She stood up from her futon and walked toward the shoji doors that were at her side. She opened them letting the cold air in. She sat at the edge of the wood floor letting her legs dangle.

Rukia knew that in order to become stronger she needed to train more, the level at which she was, was nothing. Even if with her new position as vice-captain she was still too weak. But was she ready to be trained by someone as ruthless as Zaraki Kenpachi?

Her previous teachers had taught her a lot but, they have been gentle. Kaien-dono and Ukitake-taichou had been really great teachers. With the help of Kaien-dono she learned her zanpakutou's name. With the help Ukitake-taichou she learned the difference between a fight to preserve honor and a fight to preserve life.

But the kind if power she needed couldn't be optioned with kind words. She needed raw power and only Zaraki Kanpachi new how to get it.

Rukia looked up at the sky. The moon was full. There were no clouds and no stars. Looking at the big moon all alone on the sky made her feel small. She brought her legs closer. She rested her cheek on knees.

The wind was blowing cold against her small form. She hugged her legs closer to her. She remembered a similar night. Instead of been sitting on a wood floor she was sitting on green grass. Instead of been alone she was with someone.

That someone had white hair and intense green eyes.

They had sat beside each other feeling the other warmth. They sat by each other not saying anything just happy to be beside the other. They were in there secret meeting place, hiding from the outside world.

Remembering that particularly memory made her angry, 'why did you betray us?' Rukia thought angrily as she punched the floor. "Ouch" she said rubbing her now swore knuckle.

She looked up again at the lonely moon on the sky.

She hugged her legs even closer to her and buried her face. The cold wind was still hitting her and this time there was nobody to share warmth with.

"Baka" she whispered to nobody. She closed her eyes and saw warm green eyes turn into cold ones.

* * *

With long but slow strides Renji made his way towards the elevenths division training ground. He knew today was the first training lesson of Rukia with Zaraki Kenpachi. He couldn't help but been worry about her.

After the whole Aizen betrayal and the whole execution thing were over he had tried to become closer to Rukia, but she seemed distant. 'Probably thinking about the strawberry head' Renji thought kicking a rock.

But suddenly Rukia had become alive again. She been the same old Rukia he remembered. Her powers came back faster than what they expected but not only that, she seemed to be stronger.

"Having the Hokyudou inside her soul for long time might have altered her powers. The increase on her power is amazing, she is probably in vice-captain level now" Unohona had explained.

But that still did explain her change in attitude, not that he minded. He enjoyed having his old friend back.

Ukitake had confronted Byakuya about Rukia's current position on his squad. "You can't ignore her increase in power Byakuya. My squad has been long enough with out a vice-captain, and Rukia is more than perfect for the position" Ukitake said not backing from his decision of making Rukia his new vice-captain.

Even Byakuya had to admit that with her new found strength he couldn't shield her anymore, and so he accepted Ukitake decision.

Renji went to congratulate her about her new position but, she didn't seem so happy. Rukia was reluctant about accepting her new job. He offered his help but she politely declined. He watched as she made her way toward the forest. He had wanted to follow her but, decided against it.

He later regretted no following her. That was the last time he saw before been kidnapped by Aizen.

Why would Aizen kidnap Rukia? He had already taken the Hokyudou out of her; there was no reason to kidnap her. It didn't matter if there was a reason or not. A rescue party was immediately formed.

Renji was send to retrieved the substitute shinigami. When he and the dandelion head they were surprised to find Soul Society buried in a thick blanket of snow. Even more surprisingly was that Hitsugaya was more than eager to go and save the Kuchiki princess.

The whole Soul Society wondered why he of all people would be so eager to save Rukia but, nobody dared to ask the icy dragon. No one except Kurosaki Ichigo.

He wasn't sure what had happened between the white haired captain and the orange haired substitute but the air between them was tense.

When they arrived at Hueco Mundo the rescue had been easy. 'Too easy' Renji thought. Nobody suffered any great damage except for the tenth squad captain. He had gone wild when Aizen almost kissed Rukia.

When they returned from Hueco Mundo Rukia seemed to be in some kind of trance, and Hitsugaya had suffered some mayor wounds from his fight with the traitor. The hatred the white dragon felt towards the traitor was evident, that's why it was so impossible to believe that the dragon had betrayed Soul Society to go with Aizen. Didn't he hate him for been the cause of Hinamori death?

The only ones that have been present to when the dragon decided to betray Soul Society were Rukia and Matsumoto but neither could answer the why he had betray them all.

"Who the hell does she think she is?"

"Shut up she could hear you! She is a demon if she hears you will be as good as dead!"

Renji looked at the two shinigamis that were coming from the training ground. 'Demon? Oh please tell is no Rukia' Renji thought. He knew Rukia's tendency to get angry fast but it wouldn't do her any good to go psycho on the eleventh division captain.

"Oi!" Renji called the two shinigamis "who is this demon you're talking about?"

"Abarai-fukutaichou!" both shinigamis greeted. "I recommend you not to go to the training a ground right now, the new fukutaicho of the 13 squad is going nuts and is atta-"

"Thanks" Renji said not waiting for the shinigami to finish. 'Damn it Rukia you are going to get yourself kill,' he shunpo-ed the rest of the way. As he came closer to the training grounds he could feel Rukia's angry reiatsu.

He found the whole training ground destroyed. Some of the shinigami that had been unlucky enough to cross Rukia's path were lying on the floor beat to a pulp. She was standing in the middle with her back to him.

Renji gulped feeling the dark aura Rukia was giving. Did he really want to face her? 'Be a man!' "Oi Rukia!" Renji called her.

Hearing her name been call Rukia turned slowly turned towards the one that dared to stop her from venting her anger. "Renji" she said smiling evilly "want to spare?"

'Shit!' "Err…no but can you tell me why you almost killed half of the eleventh squad?" Renji asked baking a little from her just in case she decided to use him as a practice dummy.

"The fucking bastard known as Kenpachi stood me up!" Rukia said stomping her feet on the earth.

"So you killed half his squad just because of that?" Renji asked not getting why anybody would become so angry over something so trivial.

If eyes could kill Renji was sure that he could have been dead at least 6 times already. "Got a problem with it?" Rukia hissed.

'Oh God please let me see another day' Renji prayed as he backed away more from her, as she made her way towards him.

"You see, I didn't sleep at all last night thinking about my training with that asshole known as Zaraki Kenpachi. Since I didn't sleep at all I fell asleep during my breakfast with nii-sama. Let me tell you that nii-sama wasn't too happy about my rude behavior during breakfast. Not only I embarrass myself in front nii-sama but I missed 70% off discount on Chappy accessories, since that jerk of Kenpachi told me to come here first thing on the morning. I came only to find out that the bastard had was out on a mission exterminating hollows out on Rukongai. Don't you think not sleeping; embarrass myself in front of nii-sama and missing once in a life time discount on Chappy accessories are enough reason to kill half his squad?" Rukia said already pointing her zanpaktou at him.

'Shit!'

* * *

"I feel batter" Rukia said smiling as they made their way towards the bar. "Shut up" Renji told her limping beside her. "Ah come on it was only a friendly fight" she said smiling at herself. He only glared at her.

After beating the living days out of him she had demanded to go for a drink. They walked toward a popular bar on Rukongai. As they entered Renji notice Kira and Matsumoto sitting at one of the tables on the back.

"Hey" Renji greeted the pair.

"Renji what happen to you?" Kira asked him as he saw the condition he was in. Matsumoto, who was drinking sake, spit it out when she saw him. "Let me guess you try to make a move on someone? How many time have I told you acting like a monkey won't get you anywhere" Matsumoto said between giggles.

"Shut up!" Renji told her. Kira stood between them. "Why don't you come with me for more sake" Kira said dragging him away from Matsumoto.

Only when the guys were gone did she notice Rukia standing in front. The air between them became tense. "You can sit" Matsumoto said looking out of one of the windows. "Yes" Rukia said sitting across from her also avoiding looking at the other.

They both stayed quiet, both uncomfortable in front of the other presence. Matsumoto knew about Rukia's relationship with her ex-captain and Rukia because she knew about Matsumoto feelings toward the ex-captain. Neither knew how to act in front of the other.

Rukia knew that right now she was the last person Matsumoto wanted to see. 'I'm really a horrible person.' She knew she owned Matsumoto an apology.

"Matsumoto-san" Rukia said this time looking directly at her. "Yes?" Matsumoto said surprised by how firm Rukia sounded. Both woman looked gazes. "Matsumoto-san I want to apolo-"

"Don't" Matsumoto said still locking gazes, "I know what you want to say but don't bother. You don't have to apologize to me. You did nothing wrong."

"But-"

"Look I should be the one to apologize," Matsumoto said this time dropping her eyes, "the day before Aizen kidnapped you I followed _him. _I saw the way he acted towards you and I feel ashamed to have eardrop. You don't have to apologize for anything. He chose you out of every woman in Soul Society and that includes me. I have no right to claim him. He picked you and that's it."

"Y-you saw us?"

Matsumoto looked up and found Rukia blushing like mad. "Don't tell me that was your first time been kissed?" Matsumoto asked her, a small smile on her lips. "A-ah …yes" Rukia said embarrass to be found doing something so intimate. Matsumoto had expected Rukia to be angry but looking at her blushing was … nice. "He chose well" she said smiling at Rukia.

'Its time for me to give up my love for him' she thought feeling like big weights had been lifted up.

"Thanks?" Rukia said not knowing what else to say, she was happy that things were clear between them. "Now that we have settled this whole drama, what do you plan to do to bring your man back?"

Rukia didn't have to think twice to answer. "I plan to beat some sense in to his thick white head!" she said punching the air. Matsumoto went in to a fit of giggles, "I like your plan!"

Both women smiled at each other happy to be able to become friends.

* * *

When Renji and Kira came back to the table they found a very drunk Matsumoto and Rukia.

"Bah! Men who needs them!" Matsumoto said taking a big swing from the bottle of sake she was holding. "Yeah!" Rukia said taking the bottle from her.

"Kuchiki-taichou is going to kill!" Renji said. Kira pated his friend shoulder already feeling bad for him.

* * *

_Author's Notes_: It feels good to update! And I'm sure that you will feel good if you leave a review!


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